By Sarah Sinning
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers are seeking to raise the penalties for people who flee from police, the Associated Press reports.
House Bill 1216, which moved to the Senate for debate after a 95-62 vote in the House on Thursday, says that anyone convicted of fleeing from police for a fourth time would be convicted of a felony. Currently, the offense is treated as a high and aggravated misdemeanor.
Under the new measure, someone convicted of evading police for a fourth time within 10 years would spend between one and 10 years in prison and would pay a fine of $5,000 to $10,000.
The penalties for earlier offenses would likewise be raised under the bill. For example, a first conviction would carry a penalty of at least 30 days in jail, up from 10 now, and the mandatory minimum fine would double from $500 to at least $1,000.
Supporters for the increased penalties cite the more than 500 pursuits conducted by state troopers in the metro Atlanta area, where officers have been working crime suppression detail since April 2021. The deployment was in part a response to policies from some police agencies, including Atlanta, that limit pursuits to only those suspected of certain serious offenses.
Opponents say there is no data that shows an increase in suspects eluding authorities or that higher penalties would help curb it.