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.