New app notifies drivers of nearby high-speed chases, no NC agencies using it yet

Following another fatal high-speed chase in Spring Lake, former law enforcement officers are spreading the word about a new alert system they've developed.

Tim Morgan founded the company Pursuit Alert, a warning system that allows law enforcement to notify people about ongoing high-risk situations, nearby emergencies and road hazards. Morgan served in law enforcement for 37 years; he left his role as assistant sheriff for Pickens County in South Carolina in 2012.

The company has developed an app called Digital Siren for drivers, where they receive alerts about nearby high-speed pursuits. These notifications can also be integrated into third-party apps, such as Waze.

According to Pursuit Alert's website, Digital Siren notifications "allow emergency personnel to respond more effectively and reduce the risk of accidents and injuries."

With chases frequently exceeding 100 miles per hour, Morgan said drivers on the road often cannot hear sirens in time to react safely, and the fleeing vehicle almost always outpaces the siren.

PursuitAlert's COO Joseph Cameron also has a law enforcement background, serving as a police officer for 11 years in California.

"There's a time and a place where these chases need to happen and I've been in many of them, but I think we owe it to the everyday citizen to alert them if and when they're in the area of one of these dangerous police pursuits," Cameron said.

He said that during high-speed chases, he always thought about his wife and kids and wanted to be able to notify them if a chase was happening nearby.

"In 2024, where I could get an Amazon package delivered to my house with a drone or we have self-driving cars on the street," Cameron said, "how do we not have a technology embedded in our cars or our phones that allows the everyday citizen to be notified when a police pursuit is in motion?"

To receive alerts, the law enforcement agency involved in the chase needs to already be working with PursuitAlert. The company is currently working with 13 departments across the country, and no North Carolina agencies are working with the company yet.

ABC11 reached out to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, along with many sheriff's offices and police departments in the state to find out if they're considering working with Pursuit Alert, and if not, why.