That comes amidst growing concern about an increasing number of high-speed pursuits occurring in Oamaru and North Otago.
The latest was early last Sunday when a 19-year-old driver, with three teenage passengers, reached speed of up to 180kmh in Oamaru and north of the town before his car blew up and he came to a halt.
The youth was on bail for other motoring offences, including failing to stop for police.
Senior Sergeant Kelvin Lloyd said yesterday there appeared to be at least one high-speed pursuit in Oamaru a week in recent times.
"That may be partly due to the geography of Oamaru, but we also think there is a mentality among some people that police will stop a pursuit.
"We have protocols we have to follow, but that does not automatically mean we will pull out," he said.
"The message we are giving is just because high speeds are reached, it does not mean we will stop."
The real worry was the actions of those drivers could result in an innocent bystander or one of their passengers being killed.
"We have an obligation to ameliorate road hazards and we will take every step to do that."
Even if police did pull out of a pursuit, they would make a strenuous effort to identify the driver.
That would include making the registered owner of the car say who the driver was.
Police had measures open to them to do that, including charging the owner with failing to identify the driver of their car when an offence took place.
"The thing that really frustrates us is that often the pursuit is caused by a driver trying to evade a minor offence.
"There is no need for it," Snr Sgt Lloyd said.
