Alabama Senate considering bill to put restrictions on police chases
Photo from the State of Alabama
A public hearing was held Wednesday on an Alabama Senate bill that would restrict police chases in the hopes of preventing deadly wrecks.
State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) introduced the bill following the death of Hartselle teenager Tristan Hollis, who died in a crash as a suspect was driving away from police.
Orr said he hopes his bill will save the lives of innocent bystanders like Hollis. Hollis was killed in September in Hartselle as police were chasing Archie Hale.
The Senate bill is named in memory of Hollis.
His mother, Rachel Moore, spoke at the hearing about how this police chase devastated her family.
“I never thought that I would be here standing here today speaking on behalf of my son’s death asking for a law to pass in honor of him and his memory so other families and victims do not have to live with this unbearable grief,” Moore said.
“What this bill attempts to do is provide some guardrails when it comes to what’s the offense that we are going to allow pursuit in, and you’ll see the list of felonies and et cetera in the bill,” Senator Orr said.
Law enforcement officers who were at the public hearing said that while they were not against the bill, lawmakers should work together with law enforcement on a solution.
“We’ve got to be very careful with what we are telling our young police officers out on the street, but at the same time yes, we need to have policies in place to be able to stop pursuits when they get reckless and you are endangering the public, so I think if we come together and let’s come up with a solution instead of something that says no,” Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said.
