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Brusly approves plan to install high-speed chase tracking software on police vehicles
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BRUSLY - After an officer killed two teens during a high-speed chase, Brusly leaders are taking steps to prevent future tragedies.
Monday night, the Brusly Town Council passed a measure and accepted a donation for an app to alert the public of nearby police chases, allowing drivers time to move away safely.
Brusly High cheerleaders Maggie Dunn and Caroline Gill were killed on New Year's Eve 2022 when Addis Police officer David Cauthron ran a red light during a police chase. The girls died and Maggie’s brother Liam was seriously injured. Cauthron was arrested, pleaded guilty in court and is supposed to serve 10 years of his 32-year prison sentence.
Caroline’s father, Jason Gill, started the Caroline Grace Gill Foundation and pushed for policy changes. Jason spearheaded the implementation of Pursuit Alert, which can be installed on police cars and sends an alert when a police chase is near drivers. Through a series of fundraisers, the Caroline Grace Gill Foundation raised the money to donate the technology to the town.
The first phase of implementation will install the tracking software on nine Brusly Police cars, but Gill is hopeful the entire parish and state will take notice.
“If an officer has the equipment installed in their car, it will pick up movements of the car from telematics and it will automatically generate a signal sent out to anyone who has the app,” Gill said.
Gill said the notification is sent immediately, and saves time that is so important in these situations.
“In my particular case, eight seconds would have made a huge difference, especially if they would have had a 45-second heads up of what was coming down the road,” Gill said.
Gill says after his daughter’s death, he wants to do everything in his power to make sure other parents don’t have to experience the same pain.
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