By Sierra van der Brug
Los Angeles Daily News
SACRAMENTO — New legislation proposed by a California lawmaker would enable police departments to harness tens millions in dollars in federal funding to stop police chases from turning dangerous or deadly.
The Next Gen Road Safety Act, introduced by Rep. Laura Friedman, D- Burbank, amends public safety laws to allow Community Oriented Policing Services grants to be used in new ways. Law enforcement agencies would be able to use existing federal funding to buy new equipment and technology to safely end pursuits, Friedman said Wednesday, April 8, in announcing the legislation in Burbank.
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“Right now, more than 94% of police pursuits end without any safe termination technology. No tire deflators, no immobilization tools. Officers don’t have modern gear to de-escalate these chases before they result in an accident,” Friedman said. “And because they don’t have these tools, they’re left with terrible options to pursue or to let people who have committed crimes get away. They have to make those split-second decisions all the time. They want accountability. They want to catch these people who are fleeing a crime. But they also have to weigh the danger to the public.”
The bipartisan bill would allow police agencies to add new technolog, including drones, Grapplers and police bumper systems, devices that allow officers to track suspects from afar and reduce the danger of collisions, all with a vision of chases that end without high-speed crashes that put officers, suspects and the public at risk. Accessing federal funds creates the opportunity for safety and modernization without burdening local taxpayers, according to Friedman.
“Every police chief that I’ve talked to wants these tools. The problem is they can’t afford them,” Friedman said.
Pursuit crashes often lead to injuries and sometimes deaths. In less than a week, eight people, including three in California, were killed in pursuit crashes in early April.
From April 2023 to February 2025, the LAPD initiated 1,910 pursuits. Of those pursuits, 616 resulted in traffic crashes, with 384 injuries– 198 innocent people, 137 suspects and 49 officers, according to LAPD data presented last year.
The Next Gen Road Safety Act will help close the gap between what technology is available and what technology is actually utilized, with an ultimate goal of reducing pursuit crashes, injuries and deaths, according to Friedman.
“A system called StarChase fires GPS-enabled darts. Drones can be used to fly inconspicuously above cars, there’s smart bumpers that can fire a net to suspects’ tires, as a lot of us have already heard. The point is, there are many alternatives, and right now the only reason we’re not using them at scale is due to a lack of funding,” Streets for All founder and CEO Michael Schneider said.
Drones can follow suspects at a distance, providing “eyes in the air” during a pursuit that can be especially helpful for departments that don’t have helicopters, Robert William, interim chief of the Glendale Police Department, said. When a drone has eyes on a suspect, officers on the ground can pull back and when pursuit drivers don’t see police lights behind them, they often slow down, Williams said.
“The LAPD already uses established vehicle intervention techniques like the PIT Pursuit Intervention Technique and the tire deflation device, which really helps us end dangerous situations more safely. But we know that there is certainly more that we can do. Technology has advanced, and we should take advantage of those tools that can prevent pursuits from escalating in the first place,” LAPD Captain Yvonne Ortiz said.
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