Nudge and spin. Police Kodiaqs in action

From the “bad guy’s” perspective

First we get into a Škoda Octavia, which is acting as a car being chased by the police. Before the pursuing Kodiaq nudges us, we discuss the circumstances of the manoeuvre with the driver: “People have the idea that the driver will be swerving and won’t allow the manoeuvre, but the reality is different. The driver being pursued is focused on himself, he isn’t really watching the police car’s every move. He’s stressed out, he needs to keep his eyes on the road ahead, he needs to get his braking right when turning, and these are moments when a police officer can use the PIT manoeuvre,” explains David Varchola, police training methods expert.

The PIT manoeuvre puts the fleeing car into a spin.

He adds that in the vast majority of cases, officers try to perform the manoeuvre at lower speeds of up to 60 km/h, when the risks associated with a possible secondary impact of a spinning car are minimal. “The situation must always be assessed by the officer in terms of the specific circumstances, however,” stressing that the execution must be safe. And now the Octavia is spinning. No impact, just the slightest of nudges, and the car is already spinning over the road. For someone who has been through skid training, it doesn’t really seem dramatic at all. It shows how little is actually required.

From the police’s perspective

From the perspective of the pursuing car, however, the situation is not simple. “There mustn’t be a collision. You need to get within touching distance and spin into the car you’re pursuing,” explains Josef Jeřábek, a driver of a police Kodiaq from Prague’s Motorised Emergency Unit, who helped introduce the method in the Czech Republic. What’s surprising for an observer is really how much the police officer has to turn the steering wheel to really put the car in front of him into a skid – almost full lock. According to Jeřábek, there’s another reason for this besides the transfer of force: “I basically have to sort of drive through the car I’m spinning. I can’t have it spinning in front of me,” he says.

The demonstration of the PIT manoeuvre attracted a lot of press attention.

After performing the manoeuvre, the officer immediately turns and comes up behind the spun car to touch it from behind. On the test track it looks different, but in practice this is how he usually blocks the other car, making it impossible to drive on because the spun car ends up in a ditch, by a guardrail, a wall etc. The police car pins the pursued car to an obstacle after performing the manoeuvre. “That’s why we perform the manoeuvre. We stop reckless drivers who might injure or kill someone if they continue driving. We want to make sure they don’t keep driving,” Jeřábek says.

Not just a frame

The cars police officers can perform the PIT manoeuvre with are equipped with special frames. The Octavias previously supplied to the police have them, and so do the Kodiaqs modified for the police. “It was an honour for our technical development to develop this protective frame according to the specifications and needs of the Police of the Czech Republic,” says Martin Jahn, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing. “The frame design is based on our practical experience and ensures maximum energy absorption from these manoeuvres so that forces are not transmitted to the vehicle’s load-bearing parts. It’s a more durable and robust solution than the one used by the US police we learned the PIT manoeuvre from,” says Jeřábek, praising the effected solution.

The Czech police is adding specially equipped Škoda Kodiaqs to its fleet.

The practical demonstration only confirms this. Even though the Kodiaq performed the manoeuvre on the test polygon perhaps twenty times, the test car is absolutely fine apart from a few scratches on the front bumper. Even the pursued Octavia, which always got hit in the area behind the right rear wheel, looks in surprisingly good shape after these repeated manoeuvres. That shows both that the Škodas are resilient cars, but also that this technique for stopping a fleeing car is as non-violent as possible. According to the officers, the PIT manoeuvre itself is the supreme use of the frame, which is otherwise mostly used to block cars and other similar activities.

In addition to the frame, the typical police livery and the obligatory beacons and siren, the new police SUVs have other special equipment: there are radios, additional interior lighting, extra USB connections, a 230-volt socket and a notepad holder on the front of the passenger sun shade. “These are practical little things based on our daily needs and findings. In the past, we didn’t really have anywhere to write down the registration number of a flagged-up vehicle so that we could have the number in front of us all the time,” says Jeřábek. Another special feature is the seat belt in the rear seats, which is fastened outwards, so it has the clasp by the door. This is so that the police officer does not have to reach across a person’s body when restraining him.

In 2023 the Czech police took delivery of more Škoda Kodiaqs.

There are also special compartments on the back of the folding backrests of the rear seats. Here traffic cops keep a binder for necessary paperwork and other equipment, and the first-response patrol cars have a compartment for long guns. Folding down the seats gives quick and easy access to these items, as the boot of the car is also usually full of equipment. There are fire extinguishers, a defibrillator and other devices and basic first-aid equipment. “These patrols have arrival times of up to five minutes in urban areas and usually up to ten minutes in rural areas. In all emergencies they tend to be the first ones there, usually arriving at the site before the ambulance, so they know how to give first aid and they often perform rescue work in smoke-filled buildings,” says Czech Police President Martin Vondrášek, explaining what all the equipment is for.

*Photo: PETR TOPIČ / MAFRA / Profimedia