Since the beginning of time there has been an element of society that has fled those in authority. History records stories from pre-Biblical times through the old West, to the “Bonnie and Clyde” Gangster days, the “bad guys” fled their captors. They always have and likely always will. The advent of the automobile in the 20s and 30s slowly begin to change the dynamics of high speed pursuits and the risk to the innocent public. The last three decades, pursuits have become increasingly scrutinized by the media and in the court of public opinion. Highways have become more crowded, innocent drivers more distracted and vehicle cabins much more soundproof for a quieter experience. People simply can’t hear sirens! It is well established that a high speed pursuit is the single event where an officer endangers the public the most just simply trying to do their job. An emergency Code3 response is second.
There is no such thing as a “good” pursuit, just like there is no “good” war, but unfortunately we as a society will continue to have both as long as there are people who try to do us harm. The best that law enforcement can do is to try to make them as infrequent as possible and as safe as possible while still carrying out their sworn duties.
Chiefs, Sheriffs and legislators have struggled for decades on just how to do that. The State of Washington severely restricted law enforcements ability to pursue through legislation a few years ago. This resulted in numerous social issues that led to a petition of over 400,000 signatures prompting the legislature to pass in March 2024 Initiative-2113 to loosen restrictions on pursuits and allow law enforcement to responsibly do their job.
Pursuit management strategies typically balance hiring good people, providing good training with sound policies and good supervision. However, the missing link is technology. Digital Alerts have been effective in recovering abducted children (Amber Alerts), finding missing adults (Silver Alerts) and in saving lives with weather alerts for tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and lighting. It seems very logical to have an alerting system for pursuits that kill more people every year that all weather events COMBINED! When a high speed chase is in progress, many officers not involved in the pursuit will call their family to give a “heads up” to “watch out” or get out of harm’s way. If this is critical information for officers’ families then is should be important information to all the people who entrust you and your agency for their families’ safety and wellbeing.
PursuitAlert Digital Siren allows an officer to alert the nearby public in real time when engaged in a high speed pursuit, a code3 response, or when stopped on the roadside to “Move Over” to protect the officer and help motorist comply with the move over laws. Alerts can be received on WAZE, Apple Maps, some automotive infotainment systems and a free DigitalSiren app. Additional automotive makes are expected to have the capacity to receive the alerts in the near future.
PursuitAlert is proud to partner with the United States Law Enforcement Foundation (USLEF) to give all law enforcement agencies the opportunity to acquire this life saving technology at no cost to the agency. Representatives from the Foundation will work with the agency and local corporate community or philanthropist to fund for up to three years.
This is an excellent opportunity to law enforcement executives to lead the way in addressing this decades old problem by adding a blanket of additional protection for the community and the agency during these high risk emergency vehicle operations.
For information contact PursuitAlert at 864-404-5136. tim@pursuitalert.com, or contact Jeff Strine with USLEF at Jeff@USLEF.org.
