NSW Police held spike training exercises at Moree Regional Airport on Thursday, teaching officers how to safely deploy tyre deflation devices – known as “spikes” – as part of advanced driving and tactical drills.

Training included realistic scenarios on the airport’s main runway, using weighted training spikes, with a focus on safe pursuit management.

Controlled sessions also prepare officers for pre-pursuit and post-pursuit situations, aimed at resolving incidents safely and reducing danger to the public, police, and occupants of target vehicles.

The primary goal of spike training is to equip officers with the skills to safely and effectively deploy tire deflation devices to stop vehicles, particularly in high-risk situations.

Spike training is part of the advanced driving and tactical training and encompasses a range of scenarios, including high-speed pursuits and off-road situations, with a focus on maintaining control of the vehicle and ensuring safety.

Moree and Inverell Highway Patrol Sergeant Tim Brotheridge said controlled training exercises  enable officers to be prepared when deploying “spikes” out on the road, and in the community.

“This is one of our training days for the deployment of tyre deflation devices, or spikes as well call them,” Stg Brotheridge said.

“We do it at the airport, where it’s safe and controlled, and there’s plenty of room.”

The Moree team used the 1.6km main runway at Moree Regional Airport to create real-life police pursuits.

“Instead of deploy spikes, training spikes are used,” Sgt Brotheridge said.

“They don’t have actual spikes, but are very similar in weight to the real thing and are deployed exactly the same.

“We throw them down in front of the target car in real-life, scenario-based training.”

Thursday’s training session also involved pre-pursuit and post-pursuit scenarios.

“Road spikes are just one of the options we’ve got in relation to when we pursue vehicles,” Sgt Brotheridge said.

“We can also do pre-pursuit and post-pursuit, so we don’t have to be actively involved in a pursuit. “This is a safe method for us to hopefully resolve a pursuit, or to stop a fleeing vehicle.

“We’ve had some pretty good success recently by being able to identify and spike cars before we pursue them.

“That obviously lowers the danger to the community, ourselves and the people in the target vehicles,” he said.

The purpose of pre-pursuit is to stop a pursuit before it unfolds.

“That lowers the danger to everyone,” Sgt Brotheridge said.

“The same idea is behind the post-pursuit as well. We might stop a pursuit due to excessive danger to the community, ourselves or the pursuit vehicle, and post-pursuit is an option where we can go and actively monitor and look for the target vehicle, and bring it to a safe stop.

“Getting in front of the target, rather than behind it, can reduce that risk to the community as well,” said.