Family wants changes to policy after innocent woman is killed during chase
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A family wants changes to pursuit policies after an innocent woman was killed during a chase in southwest Atlanta.
43-year-old Tamara Taylor’s car was struck on Friday. Georgia State Patrol said troopers tried to stop a pick-up truck on I-285 when the driver started driving recklessly and eventually got on Campbellton Road. According to officials, the driver ran a red light and hit Taylor’s car.
“It wasn’t worth a life, an innocent life, “ Charles Atkins, Taylor’s father, said. “All because of a chase.”
Atkins told Atlanta News First his daughter was a loving and kind mother of three.
“Oh God, the life of the party,” Atkins said about his daughter. “She didn’t ask for this, that’s why it’s to me, an error on the people that was chasing the young man.”
Now Taylor’s father wants to see the rules change for police pursuits. In 2023, we reported the nation’s number of deadly police pursuits were on the rise. According to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, pursuits that turned deadly increased 41 percent from 2001 to 2021.
In that time over 8,000 people died, per the data, about 36 percent were innocent bystanders, like Taylor.
“Why would they allow them to pursue somebody at that speed?” Atkins asked. “It has to change, it needs to stop now. I’m not going to rest until something is done about it.”
Atlanta News First reached out to Georgia State Patrol about their current pursuit policy and will update this story with a response.
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