A teenager and a 3-month-old die after their car is hit by a fleeing driver in Midtown. A South Georgia woman is crushed to death in her front yard by a fleeing car that a Georgia state trooper forced off the road. A 12-year-old boy is killed in Paulding County after a trooper intentionally rammed the rear side of the car in which he was a passenger, causing it to flip.
These are some of the tragedies that resulted from Georgia State Patrol pursuits. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spent two years examining the GSP and its aggressive pursuit culture. Our reporters analyzed thousands of police chases, filed dozens of public records requests and interviewed passengers, bystanders and families harmed by GSP pursuits.
Here are eight takeaways from our investigation:
GSP’s pursuit policy is one of the most permissive in the country
The GSP’s policy outlining how troopers should conduct pursuits contributes to a high number of unsafe chases. The policy is one of the least restrictive in the country and leaves many decisions up to the trooper; it does not clearly outline a supervisor’s role during a pursuit. AJC reporters filed public records requests across the country and acquired pursuit policies from state police agencies in 44 states. The AJC found that 42 agencies required pursuits to either be authorized by or coordinated with a supervisor. Georgia and Texas are the two states identified by the AJC that don’t clearly outline a role for the supervisor. The GSP doesn’t restrict chases according to speed, weather or traffic conditions or potential charges.
The permissive policy helps fuel the patrol’s aggressive culture
A GSP trooper is involved in a pursuit almost every day of the year. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified and analyzed 6,700 pursuits over five years. Our analysis found that 3,400 pursuits resulted in crashes that, collectively, left at least 1,900 people injured and 66 people dead. Many chases occurred on heavily traveled interstates or roadways in metro Atlanta. In 2023, only 14 days passed in which a trooper wasn’t chasing someone. In a written statement, the GSP said its pursuit policy is based on state law and judicial rulings and the agency has an active review process of its pursuits. (Read the full statement here.)
Bystanders and passengers are often the ones injured or killed
In more than half of the chases with injuries, those harmed were either bystanders or passengers — their involvement akin to being caught in the line of fire during a police shooting. The AJC’s analysis found that 523 bystanders were injured, while 470 passengers in the pursued vehicles suffered injuries. That means more than half the people injured in GSP pursuits during the five-year period reviewed from 2019-2023 were not the fleeing driver.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
GSP plays a significant role in Georgia leading the nation in frequency of deaths from police chases
AJC reporters found that people died in Georgia more often as a result of pursuits on roadways than in any other state. No national agency comprehensively tracks police chases, and varying state laws make direct comparisons a challenge. In addition to analyzing GSP’s raw data from 2019-2023, the AJC’s reporters analyzed national data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2018-2022, the latest year of federal data available. That analysis revealed that Georgia led the nation in the number of deaths based on population. The federal data recorded 201 pursuit fatalities for law enforcement agencies in Georgia over those five years. GSP reported 68 pursuit fatalities involving the agency in that period, according to GSP data. While the federal data from the NHTSA and the data obtained from GSP came from separate sources, the AJC’s analysis of each reached a similar conclusion: No other agency in Georgia is associated with as many fatal pursuits.
GSP has broad legal immunity when pursuits harm the public, even when bystanders or passengers are hurt or killed
The families of bystanders killed in GSP pursuits or those who suffer life-altering injuries have little legal recourse in the civil courts. That’s because the state patrol is shielded from most legal liability by broad legal exemptions in Georgia law and by the agency’s own loose policy governing pursuits. An AJC analysis of claims data revealed 90% of liability complaints were closed without compensating those hurt in pursuits, who are often bystanders or passengers. State sovereign immunity offers especially broad protections to state law enforcement agencies and significant protections over discretionary decisions. The loose pursuit policy of GSP compounds the difficulty because it leaves many decisions up to trooper discretion.
Troopers use a risky stop tactic in thousands of chases, sometimes at speeds that exceed 100 mph
During pursuits, troopers can use a variety of tactics to bring the chase to an end. They’re trained to use the “Precision Immobilization Technique” — which forces a fleeing vehicle to spin out and stop — as a last resort. But the PIT was used in more than 2,000 chases from 2019 through 2023 by GSP troopers, far more often than any other tactic to end chases. Because GSP troopers operate under some of the loosest pursuit policies among law enforcement agencies nationwide, troopers routinely perform PITs during chases that exceed the speed limit, sometimes in excess of 100 mph. Of the 66 deaths stemming from GSP pursuits during the five-year period, 19 resulted from PITs, the AJC’s analysis found. Those killed as a result of PITs included nine passengers.
Credit: GSP
Credit: GSP
The majority of GSP chases stem from traffic violations, not felonies
The GSP chases, which can endanger anyone on Georgia’s roadways, often stem from misdemeanors or traffic infractions, including broken taillights, driving without a seat belt, speeding or improper registration, the AJC found. Experts have found that often, the chase itself can endanger the public more than the traffic violation that prompted the original stop. National research indicates calling off pursuits that occur over nonfelony offenses is often the safest alternative. But that seldom happens with the GSP, according to the AJC’s analysis. Although 87% of GSP pursuits in 2023 were initiated over nonfelony violations, with the overwhelming majority stemming from traffic infractions that would otherwise be a citation. Just 19% of these pursuits were called off. The GSP’s position is that if motorists didn’t flee, they wouldn’t have to chase them. (Read the agency’s full response here.)
Credit: John Spink & Channel 2 Action Ne
Credit: John Spink & Channel 2 Action Ne
The GSP’s policy and philosophy on pursuits run counter to national best practices.
Law enforcement policy experts across the country have recognized the inherent danger in police pursuits. Many agencies have adjusted their practices to try to limit risks to the public. But the Georgia State Patrol has done little to reign in its pursuits. A study released in September 2023 by the Police Executive Research Forum and the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services had recommendations that law enforcement agencies should limit pursuits to situations in which two specific standards are met: 1) a violent crime has been committed and 2) the suspect poses an imminent threat to commit another violent crime. The act of fleeing police should not be a factor in making the decision, according to the study. The PERF study also recommended agencies adopt policies that include active supervisory oversight of pursuits to ensure they are necessary and conducted safely.
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