In the past 12 months there was 466 occasions where drivers failed to stop for police, with the "steep increase" an unintended consequence of a pursuits policy introduced in 2016.

The pursuits policy, which only authorises police to start a chase in limited circumstances, was introduced as a result of nine deaths in 12 years on ACT roads from 2004 to 2015 in crashes related to police pursuits.

In early 2016, ACT Policing implemented the policy to try to combat the problem. It meant police wouldn’t be authorised to pursue vehicles “in ordinary circumstances”, like for traffic or property offences. Pursuits would only be undertaken if there was immediate or ongoing risk to life or safety, and were terminated if the risk posed by dangerous driving outweighed the reason to pursue.

As a result, ACT Policing is apprehending 90 per cent fewer people for offences relating to police pursuits.

In the 12 months after the policy’s introduction, there was an 81 per cent reduction in the number of pursuits, from 163 to 31.

Of the 31 pursuits undertaken, 19 were terminated within a minute.

Former ACT Policing Chief Police Officer Justine Saunders, who left this week to take up a position with Border Force, said more drivers were failing to stop. She said it wasn't something police were measuring before the policy came into play, but anecdotally there had been a steep increase.

"Whilst we say its unanticipated I think its inevitable of a policy like this," Assistant Commissioner Saunders said.

"Those that are intent on avoiding police know that we won't continue, we've been quite public about our policy."

Assistant Commissioner Saunders said the alternatives to pursuits - like better detection technology - need to be improved.

"In terms of what [the policy] has done, it actually improved safety on the roads, so it's had the intended effect. We've had no deaths on ACT roads associated with police pursuits since it was implemented, so noting that was the primary intent of the policy, it has been successful and the government is satisfied," she said.

However, the safety of officers is now a major concern.

"I've seen really dangerous behaviour insofar as police vehicles being rammed and police officers being driven at and of course that is of the utmost concern to me."

She said there's been a concerted effort to refine the guideline, and introduce better training, tools and technology to support police in this space.

Assistant Commissioner Saunders moved to assure the community that while the limited pursuits policy meant they weren't seeing police respond in the traditional way, there were other methods behind the scenes they used to apprehend offenders.

"I have had some feedback from the community saying we’ve seen some really bad driving behaviour and yet police aren't doing anything.

"What we're doing is making judgements at the time in terms of what's more important, enforcing the law or ensuring the safety of people on our roads. And we will always support the safety of the people on the roads first."

Assistant Commissioner Saunders said stronger deterrence measures were being considered and internal measures, like making the guidelines more specific, were being implemented.

While the ACT is limiting their pursuits, across the border police pursuits in NSW have been increasing.

Assistant Commissioner Saunders said she'd like to see a consistent approach between NSW and the ACT, but recognised that wasn't always possible.

"When a pursuit originates in NSW and crosses into the ACT, NSW police must follow the ACT’s pursuit policy, as the home jurisdiction. They’re also required to notify ACT Police Operations who will determine whether the pursuit should be terminated."

A NSW Police spokesman would not provide numbers on how many chases Queanbeyan police had pursued or requested to pursue into the ACT.

An ACT government spokesman said they had no plans to change the pursuit policy.

He said an effective deterrence was the offence carrying a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and up to $15,000 in fines, increasing to three years imprisonment and up to $45,000 for repeat offenders. Drivers can also have their license suspended and vehicle seized.