Kristie's Law had several goals with the most important one aimed at reducing the number of deaths and injuries as a result of vehicular police pursuit. Like PursuitSAFETY, we are working together for a safer way to prevent these tragedies from happening to others and to save lives, especially innocent bystanders and police officers.
This proposed legislation directly and pro-actively addresses safety standards that will minimize the risk relating to police vehicular pursuits for the public and peace officers. Kristie's Law will create specific standards to ensure police pursuits are conducted to prevent in response to a violent felony.
People who break the law, no matter what the crime, need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The Entertainment Industry needs to take responsibility for the increased violence in our society. Parents, retailers and other outlets that sell movies, video games and music that encourages violence against the police need to ban these items from their homes and stores.
We believe:
1. Officers must only conduct police vehicular pursuits for known violent crimes.
2. Fleeing and eluding need to be a felony with mandatory prison time for all convictions, including the first conviction. For public safety purposes, the act of fleeing and eluding cannot be used as an excuse to justify a chase or to justify a continued and higher-risk chase.
3. Legislation needs to make the registered owner the presumed fleeing driver of a vehicle (such a presumption is rebuttable but the burden of proof shifts to the owner, who thereby becomes highly motivated to identify the family member or whomever else was driving the vehicle).
4. Officers must follow their vehicular pursuit policies. Law enforcement agencies should welcome accountability to the public they serve.
5. Ongoing pursuit and police response training must be mandatory for all peace officers.
6. Mandatory reporting of pursuit activities must be required of all law enforcement agencies.
Our goal is to:
1. Work to implement the above concepts.
2. Educate the public, police and press about police pursuits.
3. Provide PursuitSAFETY educational programs for residents in juvenile hall and other teen groups.
4. Serve as a resource for law enforcement for the development and implementation of safe and responsible pursuit and police-response policies, procedures, practices, and laws.
5. Improve officer training and supervision with respect to police pursuits and police response calls.
6. Provide a resource for families of victims and victims of crashes caused by police pursuits and police response calls.
When an innocent loved one is killed, the family searches for the "Why?"
Why is this dangerous police tactic used to apprehend nonviolent suspects? Why is this practice so widely accepted as keeping law-abiding citizens safe?