pursuitalert_v2

Could new technology help stop bystander deaths in police pursuits in Louisiana?

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:49:01 GMT

A task for will hear arguments for trying

If the man whose truck was caught in the path of a Baton Rouge Police Department pursuit in March would have known the chase was nearby, would he have been killed? If Maggie Dunn and Caroline Gill, the two teenagers killed when an Addis police officer ran a red light during a pursuit last New Year’s Eve, had been alerted, would they be alive today?

No one can answer these questions, but Pursuit Alert founder Tim Morgan doesn’t want other families to have to think about similar kinds of "what ifs." He created a warning system that allows law enforcement to send real-time alerts to residents through an app. Notifications that a pursuit is within a few miles could prompt people to stop driving or be on the lookout for speeding vehicles.

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New App Would Alert People of Oncoming Pursuits

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Thu, 11 May 2023 19:49:49 GMT

LOS ANGELES - Would you use an app that warned you about a pursuit coming your way?

Digital Siren developed an app that will alert drivers of any pursuits in their area… it works similar to an Amber Alert.

"A high speech chase is the single event where and officer endangers the public the most, just simply trying to do their job," said retired law enforcement officer Tim Morgan with Digital Siren .

Morgan started working on the idea after being part of a high-speed pursuit chase that killed an innocent bystander.

As Louisiana grapples with deadly police chases, sheriff calls new app a 'lifesaver'

Mon, 01 May 2023 14:13:43 GMT

BATON ROUGE - Police chases have killed five people in the capital area this year, including two members of law enforcement.

As the Louisiana legislature continues to debate the best ways to handle these chases, states like Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina have some counties using the Digital Siren app.

The app is free, and law enforcement would be able to send notifications to drivers' phones, warning them a chase is going on in their area.

"We want them to be looking out for that fleeing vehicle, whatever the situation might be," said Tim Morgan, a former high ranking sheriff's deputy in South Carolina and the creator of Digital Siren.

Digital Siren tech alerts users to police chases, Mobile Police top user

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 14:19:32 GMT

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — There is an app that can alert those who may be in the area of a police chase, potentially saving lives. It’s called Digital Siren, and Mobile County has the biggest deployment of the system in the entire country.

With the push of a button, law enforcement can notify anyone near a chase to get to safety. That button is installed in patrol vehicles and sends an alert to anyone with the free Digital Siren app. The app will also tell you when you’re out of range of the chase.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer that we can alert the public of a high-speed pursuit that unfortunately kills so many people, innocent people,” said Charlie McNichol, the director of the Mobile County Communications District.

St. Louis family pushing for changes to police pursuits

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 17:01:57 GMT

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – A young man from St. Louis was killed in a crash caught in the middle of a police pursuit that happened in St. Charles County along Highway 94.

Krystofer Batsell was 21 years old when he died in 2018. His parents were preparing for a birthday party for their other son when they received the news.

“There should be some divine law that you can’t lose a child on another child’s birthday,” said Connie Batsell, Krystofer’s mother.

Technology company offers possible solution to deadly police pursuits

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 19:05:10 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. ( KDVR ) – Tim Morgan set up an email alert system for his inbox so he could keep track of news about deadly police pursuits around the country. That’s how he discovered two innocent people were killed in Brighton, Colorado, after a suspect, who was running from a rookie police officer in 2021, slammed into them.

“I get multiple emails a day with multiple stories in each email,” he said, “and I have over 5,000 that I haven’t read yet.”

New app hoping to help alert innocent drivers during police chases

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 08:47:15 GMT

MOBILE, Ala..(WALA)--A new app we first told you about two weeks ago, is meant to help innocent drivers avoid crashes during police chases.

Now police are hoping to get the word out.

The free app called “Digital Siren” has only been in our area for a few weeks, but it’s already been used.

Most notably during a chase last week in Saraland where two men refused to stop on Interstate 65 and hit an innocent driver.

They were busted with 17 kilos of meth.

Mobile's latest app could save your life

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 21:00:14 GMT

MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — It's called Digital Siren, and it lets you know if you're within two miles of a police chase. Patrol cars throughout Mobile County are now equipped with the technology.

My NBC 15's: Mobile's latest app could save your life

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 19:32:52 GMT

MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — It's called Digital Siren, and it lets you know if you're within two miles of a police chase. Patrol cars throughout Mobile County are now equipped with the technology.

When the chase starts, the officer hits a button. Within seconds, your phone gets an alert.

"This is the best thing that I've seen in all the years I've been monitoring car chases, to where we can at least do everything we know that we can do to try to protect the public and innocent people," said Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran.

It's meant to stop tragedies like the one last year in Thomasville. Megan Brunson, her 5--year-old daughter Ava, and her mother Wanda were hit head-on and killed by a suspect fleeing an officer in a chase. Mobile Chief of Staff James Barber credited NBC 15's Andrea Ramey as the catalyst for bringing this life-saving technology to the area.

Digital Siren, app warns drivers of police chases

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 19:27:21 GMT

Bay Minette Police want you to download another app to your smartphone right now. It's called Digital Siren by Pursuit Alert technologies.

On its Facebook page , the department writes its teaming up with the company to help people stay alert during emergencies.

Basically, Digital Siren is a warning system...much like the alerts we already get to our cellphones for severe weather and missing children. However, with this app law enforcement can send real-time messages to drivers when they're near an emergency response.

Several Alabama law enforcement agencies are using Digital Siren, after recent high speed police chases have ended tragically.

New warning app alerts drivers of high speed chases headed their way

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:47:23 GMT

Just like we get alerts for tornados and missing children on our cellphones, new technology brings warnings of high speed chases to drivers. It's called Digital Siren from the company Pursuit Alert .

After recent high speed police pursuits have ended tragically, several south Alabama law enforcement agencies are using Digital Siren. The device is mounted on a patrol car. The public can download the app for free and get audio alerts when there is a chase within two miles of them. The app can also be used to alert drivers of emergency vehicles in their area, drunk drivers or vehicles going the wrong way on an interstate.

Pursuit Alert CEO Tim Morgan is a former law enforcement officer in South Carolina. He tells us the death of a young man during a chase lead him to work on this technology. "Having experienced that tragedy under my watch I knew there has to be a better way. First there is no good pursuit," explains Morgan.

Cross County Pursuit: Two Arrested - Stolen Gold Cart

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 14:24:50 GMT

Two men were arrested on Monday after a multi-county chase with deputies!

Kenneth Robert Clark, Jr. The driver, and Justin Eric Callaham, the passenger, led deputies on a chase that began in Transylvania County, went into Oconee County and ended in a crash at exit number 1 on I-85.

Transylvania County requested Oconee County assistance regarding the pursuit of a white Dodge towing a trailer with a suspected stolen golf cart on board.

After the Dodge crashed, the men attempted to take off on foot but were caught and taken into custody.

Both men were taken to the Oconee County Detention Center.

Press Release from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office below:

(Seneca, SC)--- The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office arrested two suspects Monday morning after a pursuit that ended at exit 1, Highway 11 at I-85.

Shortly after 9:30am this morning, the Sheriff’s Office received an officer assist request from Transylvania County, NC regarding a pursuit that was headed into Oconee County with a white Dodge as the suspect vehicle that was pulling a trailer with a golf cart that was stolen this morning.

Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office picked up the pursuit on Whitewater Falls Road, which is Highway 130, with the pursuit reaching Highway 11.

Deputies deployed stop sticks which disabled some of the tires on the truck. The suspects continued with speeds reaching approximately 65 mph.

The pursuit eventually ended at the end of Highway 11 at I-85 as the vehicle rammed through a gate with the driver and a passenger fleeing on foot.

The driver was apprehended while the passenger was apprehended at the exit one rest area near the interstate.

Deputies learned that a stolen skid steer was recovered by the property owner in North Carolina earlier this morning before the golf cart was stolen.

Upon further investigation, deputies learned that the trailer being pulled by the vehicle had been reported stolen from Seneca while the truck was reported stolen from Transylvania County.

Deputies were conducting an investigation into whether any other property recovered is stolen.

The driver of the vehicle, Kenneth Robert Clark, Jr. and the passenger of the vehicle, Justin Eric Callaham, were arrested and transported to the Oconee County Detention Center and booked in on Temporary Custody Order’s until arrest warrants are obtained.

Both Clark, Jr. and Callaham have listed addresses in Anderson, according to the Detention Center

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank our law enforcement partners with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the

West Union Police Department and other responded agencies for their assistance today.

Meanwhile, Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw wants to remind residents and visitors to our county not to forget to download the free Pursuit Alert App.

“Last year, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office began a partnership with Pursuit Alert and became the first law enforcement agencies in the world to use this technology to warn our citizens and visitors about pursuits in Oconee County involving our deputies’,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “This morning’s pursuit is a reminder of why this technology is important because citizens and residents will be notified if they are in a two mile vicinity to a sheriff’s office pursuit in order to take safe precautions, but only if they download the app. The app on my phone was activated this morning when the pursuit got close to Walhalla and thankfully, there were no injuries reported as a result of this law enforcement action today.”

Residents and visitors to the area can download the app by going to oconeelaw.com and clicking on the Pursuit Alert link in the middle of the page where they can scan the QR codes.

Or, those who are interested in downloading the App can also type in PursuitAlert in their search bar in the App Store for Android or iOS.

For those who have downloaded the App, if they are traveling and are within a two mile radius of a pursuit, they will receive an audible alert on their phone.

When the same individual is at a stationary location for around 15 minutes, the app will not alert them to a pursuit so therefore they will not be awakened at night if they are in their homes, for example.

WSPA.com: Police chase warning tech created by Upstate man

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:45:34 GMT

A life-saving technology created by a former Upstate law enforcement officer could soon be hitting the market. It’s aimed at warning people when a high-speed police pursuit is happening close by.

High-speed chases are unpredictable at best. Too often they are deadly, killing innocent bystanders caught in the cross hairs, according to Tim Morgan.

“When you’ve seen that, not only the devastation at the scene but the devastation at the home, it lasts forever,” said Morgan.

In his 37 years in law enforcement, 22 years as Pickens County Assistant Sheriff, Morgan lost sleep over a better way to prevent deaths during chases.

“We have warning systems for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning, but more people are killed in high-speed pursuits each year then all four of those combined,” said Morgan.

He and wife Trish got to work developing a device plan and teaming up with the Pickens Innovation Center last year. There are many aspects of this project that are still under wraps. They are planning for a March unveiling, but the bottom line is this is life-saving technology that will alert people close to police pursuits and stop them in their tracks.

“It will be simple notification,” said Pickens Innovation Center Director, Mark Reid Davis. “It arrives to community members within a radius of the pursuit and changes their thinking.”

Statistics show there’s a death every day in the US stemming from the 50,000 police pursuits each year.

It hit close to home in September when a North Greenville Fire Lieutenant died in a wrong-way crash. He was hit by a suspect in a police pursuit.

“It’s not going to be a cure-all, but it’s something that will warn the public with the goal of saving lives,” said Morgan about his device.

The Morgan’s hope to start selling their product this summer with the goal of using local manufacturers. They hope make a positive economic impact on Pickens County, as well.

Former assistant sheriff goes into business with police pursuit warning system

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:40:22 GMT

During a 37-year career in law enforcement, Tim Morgan saw more than his share of high-speed police pursuits that ended badly.

It was one of the aspects of the job that bothered him the most, especially as a supervisor.

Morgan, who was assistant sheriff for Pickens County until 2012, had long had a nagging feeling that there must be a way to warn the public when a chase is on other than a blue light and a siren.

“We have warning systems for flood, lightning, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Yet more people are killed annually in pursuits than all four of those combined,” he said, citing statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

He’d had an idea bouncing around in his mind for several years on how that could be done, but he didn’t know how to go about turning it into a product.

Until he met with Mark Reid Davis, director the Pickens Innovation Center, a new entrepreneur resource center in Pickens.

With help from Davis, Morgan and his wife, Trish, have developed that idea into a working system that’s in the beta testing phase.

They plan to unveil it in March and have it on the market by summer.

“We think it’s a tremendous need and something that’s potentially life-saving,” Morgan said.

Market demand

It’s also something that could find a huge market.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says an average of one death a day can be attributed to police chases. The agency counts a total of 11,506 chase-related deaths since 1979.

But a USA TODAY review last September of police reports and internal documents, court records, police-car videos and news accounts based on police statements found that the NHTSA overlooked at least 101 such deaths in 2013 – understating the total by at least 31 percent.

The number of injuries is likely to triple the number of fatalities from police chases, Morgan said.

There’s no requirement that law enforcement agencies report chases, he said, which makes calculating the total cost in lives and damages difficult.

You don’t have to look far to find pursuits that have ended in disaster.

A lieutenant with the North Greenville Fire Department was killed last September in a wrong-way crash involving a suspect who was running from deputies.

On Christmas night 2014, 22-year-old Taylor Miller of Simpsonville died when the car in which he was a passenger was hit by a Highway Patrol trooper who was in pursuit of another vehicle that had sped through a safety checkpoint on State 124 near Woodside Avenue.

In April 2014, a 70-year-old man in Travelers Rest was killed when an SUV driver hit speeds of at least 100 mph going through Travelers Rest as he was fleeing from police.

The state Department of Public Safety pursuit policy allows vehicle pursuits “only when the necessity of the apprehension of a suspect outweighs the risks created by the pursuit.” But sometimes that’s difficult to judge.

Morgan nearly lost his own life in a pursuit years ago.

He and another deputy were chasing suspects in a home break-in along a mountainous road when their patrol car ran off the road around a hairpin curve.

“Had it not landed exactly right between two trees, we would have gone another 150 feet down the embankment,” he said. “My arm is still crooked from the injuries of that.”

The financial costs of police pursuits are enormous as well, Morgan said.

“It’s in the billions, with property damage, financial payouts to survivors with lost wages, with a disability, with hospitalization. It’s a huge payout,” he said.

It’s not a problem in the United States only.

Deaths in police pursuits have tripled in the United Kingdom over a four-year period, and it’s also a major issue in Japan, Malaysia, and other countries, Morgan said.

So he’s expecting a worldwide market.

Based on research by patent attorneys and graduate students working with the Morgans, there’s no product like theirs on the market, Trish Morgan said.

Public safety focus

Concern for the public out on the highways when a pursuit is underway is what’s driving Morgan’s business plan.

“There’s no good pursuit, just like there’s no good war,” he said. “But you’re going to continue to have both.”

“It’s something that nobody really knows what to do with,” he said. “The pursuits are deadly, they’re bad. You continue to try to regulate them as best you can but you can’t outlaw them.

“This is hopefully a way to better manage them and notify the public.”

A big part of the challenge is the unpredictability of a police chase.

“They’re unpredictable, they’re fast and they’re deadly. So you just have to monitor them as close as you can,” Morgan said.

But the system the Morgans have come up with – details of which are being kept under wraps until March – promises to solve that problem.

The idea involved using five different pieces of existing technology to create a system that would be free for the public to use, said Davis, who is helping with the product development.

The product the Morgans have developed unifies these tools and makes their use seamless, “and it saves lives,” Davis said. “That’s the beauty of what the two of them have done.”

Business background

Although he worked for the Sheriff’s Office for most of his career, Morgan started out in business management at Milliken after earning a business degree at Erskine College.

“It was a good organization, it just wasn’t fulfilling,” he said.

So after a year, he left for the Sheriff’s Office, starting out as a deputy. He took a cut in pay to do it but said he felt a calling.

“It just felt like something I wanted to do or needed to do,” he said.

He left the Sheriff’s Office after an unsuccessful run for sheriff in 2012, when his longtime boss, C. David Stone, retired.

Since then, he’s been working for Blue Ridge Security, which he says has been “very supportive” of his entrepreneurial venture.

Davis believes Morgan’s background as a pilot helped in his ability to envision his product. Morgan has been flying since the 1970’s, often transporting prisoners who have been extradited.

“He sees everything in a dashboard. All the complexities of the aircraft are right in front of him as a pilot,” Davis said. “That’s what he’s done with his business. He’s set up a business where all of the components are right in front of him.

“So he’s piloting this business as he’s piloted aircraft. It doesn’t matter how dangerous something is behind you, like a prisoner or whatever. He still has control of the aircraft. And I see him doing the same thing with his business.”

His wife, Trish, who has been actively involved in the development of the product, also has a background in business.

She owns a store in Easley called Home Decorators Warehouse. Before that, she worked in sales at the Reserve at Lake Keowee and also has been in pharmaceutical sales.

“I’ve been involved since the beginning with our team,” she said. “And going forward, I’ll be out selling the product.”

“Actually going forward, Trish will most likely be running the show,” her husband said.

The couple has a provisional patent on the product and is doing beta testing this month. Testing will be expanded in February and the product unveiling is set for March 7.

They’ve developed a week-by-week strategic plan through 2017 that calls for them to set up a storefront in Pickens this November.

The Morgans credit Davis and the Pickens Innovation Center with bringing their idea to life.

“We wouldn’t be here had it not been for the center,” Tim Morgan said. “Because this is something we’ve bounced around and talked about with different people for the past five or six years and it just never got traction because the people didn’t have the connections.”

They hope to use a local company on a contract basis to manufacture the product, in keeping with the center’s goal of fostering synergy between local entrepreneurs and existing businesses.

“This is not a cure-all,” Tim Morgan said of the police pursuit warning system. “Hopefully it will prevent some injuries.

“If it saves some lives, that’s the good part about it,” his wife said.

Police ‘Pursuit Alert’ App Launches in Pickens

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:33:41 GMT

In January, a Texas couple’s world was rocked. Garrett Tolliver was just 18 when his parents say a stolen van in the midst of a police chase hit his truck outside Dallas, killing him.

“He never knew it was there until he topped the hill and it was too late,” explained father, Jackie Whitney.

Monday marked 59 days since his death.

“I did make a promise to my son in his casket that mama would do something to make a change,” said mother, Stacey Tolliver-Whitney.

Pushing through their pain, Stacey and Jackie researched police chase warning systems online. They came across the PursuitAlert app created by Tim and Trish Morgan 1000 miles away in Pickens.

“We took the plunge and flew all the way from Texas just because we believe so much in this,” said Stacey.

The app signals users driving within a 3-mile radius of a police chase. Monday marked the official app launch.

A signaling technology would be installed in police cars with participating agencies. When the officer begins a chase, they would flip the pursuit alert switch. It will send an alert to users who’ve downloaded the app that is within a three-mile radius of the chase.

“It needs to protect you not only when you’re in the Pickens County area, but when you’re on vacation driving to Florida or across the country,” said Tim Morgan.

Monday, the sheriffs from Greenville, Pickens and Oconee Counties showed up to check out Tim Morgan’s invention. In the coming weeks, he said they will be emailing every sheriff’s office in the country, setting up partnerships. For less than a set of discount tires, Morgan said the push-button console can be put in a police car. Morgan said the app is free and the benefits are priceless.

“Hopefully this will make a difference so we will not have to hear about it as much in the future,” said Morgan.

Morgan says they would like to have the technology automatically installed on your smartphones like amber alerts and weather alerts. For now, you must download the app in order to be protected.

Local entrepreneurs unveil products at Pickens Innovation Center’s ‘Commercialization Day Launch’

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:27:53 GMT

The entrepreneurial spirit of Pickens County was on full display in downtown Pickens on Monday, with the launch of products ranging from a device that makes it easier to get the mail out of your mailbox through your car window to an alert system for high-speed police chases.

It was the Pickens Innovation Center’s Commercialization Day Launch, unveiling the products of more than a dozen local inventors and business owners under the center’s guiding influence.

“It’s an exciting time,” Pickens Mayor David Owens told a crowd of nearly 100 gathered in front of the center on Court Street for the event.

The Innovation Center’s goal is to connect creative people and their ideas with the means to make their dreams become reality – and to turn the city of Pickens and surrounding area into a hub of invention and entrepreneurism and promote economic diversification.

The new business owners are using local companies as much as possible to build their products.

Tim Morgan, former Pickens County assistant sheriff, was there with his wife, Trish, unveiling a device that allows law enforcement officers to send a message to smartphone apps that lets drivers know a high-speed chase is in progress in their vicinity.

The product, called PursuitAlert, attracted visits from the sheriffs of Greenville and Oconee counties, as well as a couple from Texas who lost their son when the driver of a stolen van who was being chased by police swerved into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with the 18-year-old.

“We believe if he’d had this app, he would be here today,” Jack Whitney said. “We just don’t want to see another family go through this.”

Entrepreneur Eric Varner was there with another device designed to save lives on the highway.

RyderSaver is a pole with a light atop it that attaches to the rear of a moped to make it more visible. Varner said he got the idea for the device by reading news stories about moped fatalities in which the drivers of cars said they couldn’t see the moped.

He’s working on a tracking device to go with the lighting system.

Andrew Hendricks, a recent Clemson University marketing graduate, was showing off an equally simple but ingenious device called Mailbox Retriever.

He invented it as a school project when he was in the third grade at Hagood Elementary and built it with help from his grandfather, George Roach.

It’s a hard, clear plastic sleeve that fits inside a mailbox and slides out easily to make it possible to get mail out of the box without having to reach deep inside it from your car window.

Roman Visser’s Pet to-Go system is another simple but potentially useful product for people traveling with their pets. It’s a cabinet that has a food and water bowl in the bottom drawer, and other drawers for storage of food, pet toys and other items.

It can be programmed to dispense food and water at a specified time and close up when the animal is finished with its meal.

Some of the vendors on hand were unveiling more traditional products but with a new twist.

For example, Ron Few’s businesses – called Twist – is selling antiques online.

Daniel Ross, of Lit Coffee, was marketing high-quality coffees from eight different countries. It operates as a nonprofit, donating 5 percent of its profits locally and globally.

The company started three months ago operating coffee carts in various sites across the Upstate and selling to local coffee shops.

While the cutting edge and the new were the dominant theme of the 13 businesses unveiled, Mark Burgess, owner of Burgess General Store at 710 Main St., Pickens, is bringing an old idea to the 21st century.

His great-grandfather operated one of the first general stores in Pickens County, and he sees his new venture as a throwback to simpler times, with mostly local products for sale.

“The main goal is to kind of bring the past and the present together,” he said.

Officer creates app to end police chase deaths

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 17:26:11 GMT

A former sheriff’s deputy wants to put an end to police chase deaths with his new app.

The free app is called “PursuitAlert” and law enforcement officers would be able to alert the public of a nearby chase.

Pending federal approval, Tim Morgan said, you should be able to start using his app in about four months.

Jackie and Stacey Whitney flew up from Texas for the unveiling of his app in Pickens on Monday.

They lost their son Garrett less than two months ago to a deadly police pursuit outside Dallas, Texas.

“Right now, we are just still numb by it. We are just doing anything and everything we can to help make sure this doesn’t happen to another family,” Stacey Whitney said.

Whitney told News 13 she made a promise to her son at this funeral to help prevent another police chase tragedy.

“I made him a promise that momma would do something to make changes,” Stacey said.

So, her and Jackie got to work and came up with an idea.

“I was thinking, if there were some way he knew, beforehand, if it was coming it would be something that was useful,” Jackie said.

But, then Jackie found “PursuitAlert” and Morgan online.

“I was in law enforcement for 37 years and one of the most difficult incidents I had to deal with was the death of an innocent victim in a high-speed police pursuit,” Morgan said.

After retiring from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, Morgan started designing pursuit alert.

According to Morgan, at the flip of a switch, officers could send out a push alert to smartphones within a set radius around a chase.

The app would then alert users to “proceed with caution,” Morgan said, if there’s no longer a threat from a chase.

“We’re sending a notification out to all the sheriff’s in the nation that new technology is on the market.”

Police chase app alert drivers nearby high speed pursuits

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 17:16:57 GMT

More than 5,000 bystanders and passengers have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured in police car chases over the past 35 years, research says.

Now a former sheriff has created PursuitAlert, which aims to help the public avoid police chases by alerting drivers within a three-mile radius.The moment an officer begins to chase down a subject, they turn on a device in their cruiser and it will send an alert to the app. Tim Morgan, former Pickens County Assistant Sheriff in South Carolina, and Trish Morgan worked on the technology with Pickens Innovation following the death of a man killed during an incident, reports WYFF4.

Brent Winchester was traveling to work in 2008 when a car being chased by police lost control and spun into oncoming traffic – Winchester was killed in the accident.

‘I was in law enforcement for 37 years and one of the most difficult incidents I had to deal with was the death of an innocent victim in a high-speed police pursuit,’ Morgan told

ABC News WLOS.

After retiring from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, Morgan started designing PursuitAlert. Police officers simply flip the switch on the device and a push alter will be sent out to PursuitAlert app owners in the vicinity of the chase. Another notification will be sent out the chase is no longer a threat such as ‘proceed with caution’. ‘We’re sending a notification out to all the sheriff’s in the nation that new technology is on the market,’ said Morgan.

The PursuitAlert technology will cost around $350 for each police car, but Morgan hopes the free app will be out in the next few months –as it is currently pending federal approval.

2016 Innovision Awards Honors PursuitAlertM.

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 17:10:01 GMT

2016 Innovision Awards Community Service – PursuitAlert

InnoVision’s Community Service Award recognizes an organization for the development of new technology or for the innovative application of existing technology, to provide products, services, or processes that improve the quality of life in South Carolina communities.

This year Innovision honored Tim and Trish Morgan and company (PursuitAlert) with its coveted Community Service Award. PursuitAlert – a South Carolina (Upstate) based company is a patented state of the art mobile warning system to alert motorists and civilians of an immediate danger from a high-speed pursuit chase. This smartphone app is free to the public and covers a three-mile radius, of an active Police pursuit by a participating law enforcement agency. “As the pursuit progresses or concludes, PursuitAlert will notify the affected community members that the pursuit is now out of range and to continue with caution.”

The goal of PursuitAlert and its founders is to limit tragedies, devastation, and loss caused by deadly pursuits.

Pursuit Alert making it on Fox 45 News

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 17:06:49 GMT

A life-saving technology created by a former Upstate law enforcement officer could soon be hitting the market. It’s aimed at warning people when a high-speed police pursuit is happening close by.

High-speed chases are unpredictable at best. Too often they are deadly, killing innocent bystanders caught in the crosshairs, according to Tim Morgan.

“When you’ve seen that, not only the devastation at the scene but the devastation at the home, it lasts forever,” said Morgan.

“We have warning systems for tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightning, but more people are killed in high-speed pursuits each year than all four of those combined,” said Morgan.

“It will be simple notification,” said Pickens Innovation Center Director, Mark Reid Davis. “It arrives in community members within a radius of the pursuit and changes their thinking.”

Statistics show there’s a death every day in the US stemming from the 50,000 police pursuits each year.

“It’s not going to be a cure-all, but it’s something that will warn the public with the goal of saving lives,” said Morgan about his device.

Oconee County residents can now be alerted to police pursuits through cellphone alerts

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 17:04:45 GMT

Oconee County is first law enforcement agency in the world to use the PursuitAlert technology

OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. —

Residents in Oconee County can now be alerted when they are in an area of eminent danger due a high-speed chase.

Sheriff Mike Crenshaw announced Tuesday that the county is the first law enforcement agency in the world to use the PursuitAlert technology.

(The video above is a demonstration on how the app works provided by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office.)

“I was contacted about two years ago by PursuitAlert, who shared with me the development of this warning system and asked our assistance in testing," Crenshaw said. "We began beta testing to confirm it would work in our rural county."

PursuitAlert is a free app. If a citizen is within a 2-mile radius of an active police pursuit in or emergency response in Oconee County they will receive a push notification and audible alert on their phone.

"Our hope is motorist will have a heighten sense of awareness when approaching the next intersection even though they may have right of way," Crenshaw said. "Citizens are also alerted when the pursuit is out of range."

Crenshaw said he believes this new technology will reduce accidents, increase officer safety, increase citizen safety, potentially reduce insurance cost, and allow deputies to retrieve items of evidentiary value.

PursuitAlert has additional benefits to law enforcement officers, such as, when offenders throw illegal drugs or other evidence out a vehicle window during a pursuit. Officers can now use a “drop pin” feature on the equipment in their patrol vehicle to use GPS coordinates to find the exact location where the evidence was discarded.

OCONEE COUNTY UNVEILS NEW POLICE PURSUIT WARNING SYSTEM FOR MOTORISTS

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 16:50:50 GMT

Walhalla, SC (FOX Carolina) - On Tuesday, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office held a press conference unveiling the launch of a new Police Pursuit Warning System for motorist.

Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, says the news high speed pursuit warning system for citizens of Oconee County is technology not currently being used anywhere else in the world.

Sheriff Crenshaw says citizens will be able to download an app available for iPhones and Android phones that will alert them when a high speed pursuit is within a two mile radius of them. According to the sheriff, on average Oconee County has one or two pursuits a month, which accounts for less than a half percent of their annual traffic stops.

Although it's a small percentage, Sheriff Crensaw says there are additional benefits of the system. After the pursuit has finished, the alert system will allow the sheriff's office to go back and look at speeds during the pursuit.

Deputies can also generate drop pins for when suspects throw things from vehicles making it easier to locate evidence after a pursuit.

If you're interested in getting the Pursuit Alert app, a QR code can be found on the Oconee County Sheriff's Office here .

Police chase warning app launches in Oconee Co.

braden@moderncartographers.com (Braden Frame) — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 05:00:00 GMT

Oconee County Sheriffs Office is rolling out new technology to alert the public to high speed chases in their area.

The way this technology works is when a high speed chase is happening in a 2 mile radius the public will be alerted.

The catch is that the citizen must have this free app Pursuit Alert.

It’s a project that’s been in the works for nearly two years.

The way it works is when a chase starts the deputy can hit a button on the device in their car and the alert goes out.

Sheriff Mike Crenshaw says this isn’t just a benefit for the public but also the safety of their deputies and furthering investigations.

The technology will allow them to track their speeds and routes while pursuing a suspect.

The sheriff says the cost for everything comes from the sheriff's office and all the residents need to do to make this work is download the app.

He even encourages parents who have kids at Clemson to download it too.

Watch news conference on the new app below

Article provided by: WSPA.com