PDF: Blue alert Local police shootings* June 24, 2009: Fort Oglethorpe police Officer Mitchell Moore is shot in the back by a gunman in a parking lot. Body armor protected the officer, and he was treated at a local hospital and released.* March 16, 2009: Meigs County resident Randy Crisp shoots two deputies -- one in the hand, the other in the leg.* June, 6, 2008: Kermit Bryson shoots and kills Grundy County Deputy Shane Tate while the deputy is serving a warrant on Mr. Bryson.* April 26, 2008: Courtney Gaines shoots South Pittsburg police Officer Jeff Stevens near the town fire hall during the annual National Cornbread Festival.* May 6, 2002: Isaac Eugene Jones III shoots and kills Chattanooga police Officer Julie Jacks during a confrontation; Mr. Jones recently had escaped from a hospital during a mental evaluation.* Sept. 6, 2001: Marlon Duane Kiser shoots and kills Hamilton County Deputy Donald Bond when the deputy stops at an East Brainerd Road fruit-and-vegetable stand to check a suspicious truck.Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press archivesOfficer deaths in 2009* Texas: 11* Florida: 9* North Carolina: 7* Alabama: 5* Georgia: 4* Tennessee: 2* Nationwide: 124Source: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Local Georgia authorities say a "blue alert" bill that would notify the public if an officer is shot or killed could cut down on search time for a suspect.
"You hope to never have to use it, but in those cases, it's another helpful tool," said Gordon County Sheriff Mitch Ralston.
Senate Bill 397 first introduced by Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, is still in the Senate Public Safety Committee after the full Senate referred it back on Feb. 10, records show.
Similar to the Amber Alert law that activates to the Georgia Department of Transportation message board when a child is abducted, the Blue Alert law would activate when a police officer has been killed or injured and the perpetrator is at large, the bill states.
If enacted, the blue alert could be activated if a law enforcement agency believes the suspect has not been caught, if the suspect is believed to be a serious threat to the public and if sufficient information is available to give to the public that could assist in locating the suspect, the bill states.
Law enforcement agencies already are notified when a dangerous suspect is on the loose through the National Crime Information Center powered by the FBI.
But Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said those messages sometimes are delayed by a day and the alerts only go to law enforcement agencies.
With a blue alert, "what you're doing is (alerting) the motoring public to be on the lookout," Sheriff Wilson said.
He thinks it's a "favorable piece of legislation" because it would notify the general public to be watching for people who are dangerous.
If the public received a description of the suspect or the person's vehicle, they could speed up the search by being law enforcement's "eyes and ears," Sheriff Ralston said.
People who are willing to hurt or kill a law enforcement officer are more dangerous because they aren't afraid to hurt anyone, Fort Oglethorpe Police Chief David Eubanks said.
The public needs to know that such people are on the loose to stay clear of the danger, Chief Eubanks said.
While his officers don't use the Amber Alert often, Chief Eubanks said, it has come in handy in the past to assist in arrests.
In Georgia, the Amber Alert system is called the Levi's Alert. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation decides if an alert is needed, then the Georgia Emergency Management Agency sends it out, said Dr. Mohamed Arafa, GDOT's spokesman for the North Georgia region.