Atlanta City Council pushes for reform in Georgia State Patrol pursuit policies

Police chase policy in Atlanta

Some members of the Atlanta City Council want the Georgia State Patrol to reform their chase policy, following the deaths of two innocent people last month. They died in crashes that occurred while law enforcement chased suspects.

ATLANTA - The Atlanta City Council is reviewing the chase policies and its agreements with the Georgia State Patrol.

Deadly Little Five Points chase

The backstory:

Two people were killed during police pursuits in the month of April. 

On April 7, DeKalb County police responded to a robbery at the Chick-fil-A located in the 600 block of Decatur Village Way just off US 78. Officers arrived to find multiple employees who had been pepper sprayed. Less than an hour after the Chick-fil-A incident, Atlanta Police located the suspects' vehicle and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. The driver fled, leading to a crash at the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads in the heart of Buckhead. Officials say a 26-year-old New York man's car was hit during the incident, and he died.

Nineteen-year-old Cooper Schoenke was killed when a female driver, pursued by the GSP, hit his car in Little Five Points. 

Atlanta City Council resolution on chases

What they're saying:

"A revision of this policy, which has proven successful in other states, can help our law enforcement better serve our community and better protect our loved ones," Candler Park resident Scott Fleming told the council on Monday.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilwoman Lilliana Bakhtiari, urges the Georgia State Patrol to reform its chase policy. The resolution also asks the Atlanta Police Chief to review protocols and only allow APD to request backup by GSP if the suspect has been involved in a violent crime or if the public faces an imminent threat. It also prohibits PIT maneuvers in densely populated areas. The councilwoman wants to change some dubious statistics.

According to the resolution, Georgia has the highest rate of police pursuit fatalities in the nation, with over 6,700 pursuits over a five-year period that resulted in more than 1,900 injuries and 63 deaths. One of the people who died was Kate Schoenke's son.

"I understand the weight of their job, but there needs to be some oversight. There is no other option for this sort of chase except a crash. The crash was in Little Five Points. It could have been on Freedom Parkway. It could have been on Ponce and Briarcliff. It could have been a family going to Target," the mother of fatality victim Cooper Schoenke pleaded.

"Chases should not happen. Chases are not safe," District 5 Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari exclaimed. The Georgia Department of Public Safety says its policy is grounded in law, shaped by training, and guided by a clear standard that actions be objectively reasonable.

"This was Georgia State Patrol, and we are going to do everything we can to change their policies and advocate for that."

Dig deeper:

The resolution passed on the consent agenda and will likely be presented to the GSP. It is a resolution, so it does not carry the weight of a law.