ATLANTA — City and state lawmakers are calling on the Georgia State Patrol to stop their pursuit practices. This follows the death of a 19-year-old who was hit and killed when a suspect GSP troopers were chasing ran a red light and hit the teen.
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“Chases should not happen,” said Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari Wednesday afternoon in a press conference.
She is among those calling for change from the Georgia State Patrol’s pursuit policy.
It comes after a crash Monday at Moreland and McClendon, where a car was hit by a driver who was being pursued by the Georgia State Patrol for traffic violations. Cooper Schoenke, 19, was killed. His mother was alerted immediately to the crash.
“She got an alert on her phone from Cooper’s phone that he had been in an accident,” said Cooper’s family friend Kate Weaver.
Cooper’s mother went right to the scene to find her worst nightmare: her only son, gone in an instant.
“Let me be clear, their actions were not about the safety of the public; this was about a need for speed,” said Devin Barrington Ward with the National Police Accountability Project.
“We need to make sure we are holding law enforcement agencies accountable,” said councilmember Bakhtiari.
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Cooper’s family also wants to see change.
“I think a more responsible pursuit policy would honor Cooper’s legacy in a meaningful way. If that can stop even one more innocent life from being lost, it’s absolutely what should happen,” said Weaver.
In a statement from Governor Kemp’s spokesperson on the calls for change, Garrison Douglas said, “Let’s be clear: the leaders of the rejected Defund the Police movement have another bad idea and by misidentifying the Department of Public Safety Commissioner, have proven once again that they lack basic understanding of the facts.
Those who break the law and act recklessly are to blame for the tragic and needless loss of these lives, and it’s shameful that anyone would seek to diminish the actions of those who caused these deaths and shift blame onto those who put their lives on the line every day to safeguard our communities. It is thanks to the brave and dedicated work of law enforcement and the full rejection of these short-sighted arguments that we have seen a historic drop in crime in our Capital city.”
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