Police told to take training on pursuits after fatal wrong-way highway crash in Whitby, Ontario

Police officers and emergency dispatchers in Durham Region have been instructed to complete a mandatory training course on suspect pursuits within the next two months in light of a wrong-way highway crash that killed an infant and his grandparents.

Police say the training is required annually but confirm the instructions to complete it within a two-month timeframe are due to last week’s fatal crash.

Ontario’s police watchdog has said a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, who were visiting from India, and their three-month-old grandson died in a crash that involved a van being chased by police while going the wrong way on Highway 401.

The baby’s parents, who live in Ajax, survived the April 29 crash.

The Special Investigations Unit has said Durham Region police were chasing a cargo van that had been identified as a vehicle of interest in a liquor store robbery in Clarington, with the pursuit shifting to Highway 401.

The driver of the van, who was also killed in the crash, was identified as a 21-year-old man, while a 38-year-old male passenger suffered serious injuries.

The crash has raised questions about the police decision to pursue a suspect van in an alleged liquor store robbery into oncoming traffic on one of Canada’s busiest highways.

The Canadian Press