Notification of high-speed police pursuits — in one community near Baton Rouge, there will soon be an app for that.
The town council in Brusly has accepted a donation to launch an app to notify drivers of an oncoming pursuit.
This comes following the New Year’s Eve 2022 deaths of two Brusly High cheerleaders, Caroline Gill and Maggie Dunn, who were hit by a police officer who ran a red light during a pursuit.
Caroline’s father, Jason Gill, who runs the Carolina Grace Gill Foundation, says this is an example of using modern technology to keep people safe.
“They have a lot of technology these days,” Gill notes. “Right off of our cell phones, we can do just about anything that we can do off of a computer. So why wouldn’t we use technology to better assist law enforcement to protect our communities?”
Gill says that real-time notification can mean the difference between life and death in these pursuits.
“(It’s) just a simple audible notification to tell you that there’s a pursuit coming,” says Gill. “Seconds matter, so the earlier the notification you get, the better off you’ll be.”
Gill was instrumental in getting the Brusly Town Council to implement this technology, and he says he’s pushing for implementation at other levels, including other cities, parishes and the state as a whole – and he’s not stopping there.
“We’re pushing for that with the car manufacturers to see if we can get some of that done or even with federal regulations or federal legislation to help push that through,” Gill says.
But for now, the Town of Brusly will install tracking software in nine patrol vehicles as part of the rollout of the technology there.
As for the chase that resulted in the girls’ deaths, the former Addis police officer, David Cauthron, is currently serving a 32-year prison sentence with 22 years suspended.
The suspect Cauthron had been pursuing, Tyquel Zanders, is also charged; his case is still pending.
Gill says the technology shouldn’t be limited to police vehicles.
“Not only can it be used for law enforcement, but it also can be used for ambulances or fire trucks — emergency vehicles in general,” says Gill.