DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — There is a debate over police pursuits in Georgia.
One mom wants to see them stopped after her daughter was an innocent bystander killed by a man fleeing law enforcement. But one district attorney says pursuits are necessary.
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“Our circuit has seen an increase since 2022 of 200% of felony fleeing cases,” said Newton and Walton County District Attorney Randy McGinley.
“You are facing a minimum of one year in prison that cannot be probated, deferred or anything by the judge, so you’re going to prison, and I don’t think people realize that. Some of that is public education, pulling them over and getting a citation, it may affect your insurance, but you’re not going to go to prison,” said McGinley about one way to stop the pursuits.
But McGinley said, it’s too much focus on ending police pursuits, which he believes should be out of the question.
“If you let people know that if they just flee with impunity, they can get away and that no one will chase them, what are people going to do? They’re going to just keep fleeing,” said McGinley.
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But Katrina Harris doesn’t agree with the police pursuits.
“It is not keeping people safe,” said Harris.
She is pleading for someone to consider the innocent bystanders. Her daughter Katie, a Georgia Tech graduate, was killed when a driver being pursued by the Georgia State Patrol hit her in 2023.
She holds the man who hit her daughter accountable. But she also thinks the law enforcement behind the pursuits plays a role.
“Would he have been going that fast? Would he have run a red light? Would he have been going to wrong way down Memorial Drive? I don’t think the answer to any of those questions is yes,” said Harris.
In Katie’s case, the suspect hasn’t gone to trial. Her family has been feeling the pain on multiple fronts.
“[The suspect] had no insurance, so we had no monetary recompense, but also we are being punished in the sense that our insurance has almost doubled with one less person on our policy,” said Harris. When it comes to suing, she said she was told by attorneys, “it’s not an option in the state of Georgia. They have full immunity no matter what they do. They can always say at any point in time we thought it was in the interest to do and there is no recourse at that point.”
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