State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) has filed legislation requiring law enforcement agencies conducting vehicle pursuits to adopt or create a written pursuit policy, including for chases that cross over into other jurisdictions.
On Monday afternoon, Orr spoke to 1819 News about his bill, SB120, dubbed the Tristan Hollis Memorial Act.
"We don't want to unnecessarily impede or cause restriction on law enforcement's ability to do the difficult job that they need to do," Orr said of the legislation. "So we don't need the Monday morning quarterback. We don't. But we need our law enforcement officers using good judgment when they engage in one of these pursuits. They need to be able to catch the bad guys and hold them accountable."
"But if we really dont know what the bad guy has done, you know, in other words, we don't know that he's fleeing a murder, fleeing a bank robbery, you know, those kind of felony type offenses, and they just ran a stop sign, and now we're going to engage in a high speed pursuit chase, because we saw somebody run a stop sign and they fled. We get into a risk-reward type situation," he added.
The lawmaker reiterated his willingness to discuss the bill with law enforcement.
"I'm serious about not wanting to impede law enforcement. There are some common-sense measures that we can put in place at the local level or the state level that are going to provide a level of safety to the public at large," Orr added.
According to SB120, a law enforcement agency that fails to adopt a policy in accordance with this section is subject to the withholding of any state funding or state-administered federal funding.
Orr's legislation is a response to a fatal officer-involved crash in Hartselle that claimed the life of Tristan Hollis, a local teenager, and injured six others.
According to the city's police department, the incident occurred on Alabama Highway 36 around 8:30 p.m., when a Priceville Police officer began pursuing a vehicle after observing the driver committing moving violations and suspected of driving under the influence.
The chase ended when the suspect crashed into the vehicle occupied by the victims.
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