PORT ALLEN — The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office launched a new real-time warning system Tuesday aimed at alerting drivers when law enforcement vehicles are nearby during emergencies and high-speed pursuits — a step the families of two teenagers killed in a 2022 Brusly pursuit crash called meaningful, but only a beginning.
Sheriff Jeff Bergeron unveiled Digital Siren Pursuit Alert at a press conference Tuesday morning outside the West Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse at 850 8th Street in Port Allen, joined by the technology’s developer and the families of Caroline Gill and Maggie Dunn, who were killed on New Year’s Eve 2022.
“This system represents an important advancement in how we protect both our deputies and the citizens of West Baton Rouge,” Bergeron said.
The system sends alerts to mobile devices within approximately a two-mile radius when deputies are responding to emergencies with lights activated, stopped on the roadway during traffic stops, or engaged in a pursuit. As the vehicle moves, the alert zone moves with it, providing real-time updates to drivers approaching the area.
The service is free and available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Drivers who already use Waze will receive alerts automatically through the navigation platform in the form of an emergency vehicle notification on the map — no separate download required.
“I encourage everyone to download the app and share it with your family and friends,” Bergeron said.
The technology was developed by Tim Morgan, CEO of Pursuit Alert, who spent the bulk of his career as an undersheriff and said he has witnessed firsthand the danger emergency vehicle operations pose to the public.
“A pursuit is the single event that endangers the uninvolved public the most of any occurrence a law enforcement agency gets involved in,” Morgan said. “And the second event is a Code 3 emergency response.”
The announcement was made in the shadow of a crash that struck close to home for West Baton Rouge. On the morning of December 31, 2022, a high-speed law enforcement pursuit tore through the Town of Brusly, ending in a collision that killed 15-year-old Caroline Gill and her best friend Maggie Dunn. Maggie’s brother Liam was critically injured.
According to Jason Gill, Caroline’s father and founder of the Caroline Grace Gill Foundation, the three teenagers had been running errands ahead of a New Year’s Eve gathering when a law enforcement vehicle struck their car broadside at approximately 86 miles per hour while passing through a red light at Louisiana Highway 1. Gill said the officer did not slow or attempt to brake before entering the intersection.
Gill was at a nearby park with two of his younger children when the crash occurred. In a statement published on the foundation’s website, he described arriving at the scene and struggling to process what had happened.
“When we arrived, my heart sank,” Gill wrote. “It was visibly a very horrific scene.”
He said the months following Caroline’s death were defined by grief and a growing determination to prevent similar tragedies.
“I wanted to make a change and educate others on high-speed pursuits,” Gill wrote. “I then had a conversation with law enforcement officials and legislators and formed the Caroline Grace Gill Foundation.”
Erin Martin, the mother of Maggie and Liam Dunn, called the launch a step forward but said the deeper problem requires more than a single technology fix.
“This is truly good governance — to see a need,” Martin said at the press conference. “High-speed pursuits and the danger they create is definitely a systemic problem.”
In a follow-up interview with WBR Independent after the press conference, Martin said she hopes the rollout opens the door to broader reforms. She said District Attorney Tony Clayton has discussed more advanced traffic management technology — systems capable of turning signals green ahead of a moving pursuit — and she hopes funding can be found to pursue those options.
Martin also said pursuit policy itself needs to change, arguing that too many chases are initiated for offenses that don’t justify putting the public at risk.
“Not for property. Period. Period. Not even for a stolen car,” she said. “You don’t endanger the entire public for a stolen car.”
She said state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, who represents District 17 and has been in contact with the families since the crash, currently has a bill before the Louisiana Legislature that would impose mandatory minimum sentences on those who flee law enforcement. Senate Bill 58, filed for the 2026 Regular Session, would require a minimum of one year at hard labor for aggravated flight from an officer — a charge that currently carries no minimum — and a minimum of two years if the flight results in serious bodily injury. Under the bill, fines collected from those convictions would be set aside by law enforcement agencies specifically for high-speed pursuit driver training or technology designed to reduce the public risk of pursuits. The bill is set to take effect August 1, 2026, if passed. Martin said she hopes uniform pursuit policies can also be addressed in future sessions.
WBR Independent reached out to Sen. Kleinpeter for comment on the bill’s current status and his work with the families. He had not responded by the time of publication.
Martin also praised Louisiana’s new hands-free driving law, saying it makes the Pursuit Alert app more practical for everyday drivers because alerts will pass through automatically for anyone already using a car audio system or phone through a vehicle.
“If this had been a thing in December of 2022, Maggie and Caroline would be alive today,” Martin said.
The Caroline Grace Gill Foundation has indicated a willingness to partner with other law enforcement agencies interested in bringing the technology to additional parishes.
Digital Siren Pursuit Alert is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Waze users will receive alerts automatically while the app is in navigation mode.
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