ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council has approved a resolution urging the state to reform the Georgia State Patrol’s vehicle pursuit policy, following a deadly crash that killed a local teenager during a high-speed chase.

Kate Schoenke, who spoke in support of the resolution, lost her 17-year-old son, Cooper, in April after a woman fleeing a state trooper struck him near Little Five Points.

“There was a high-speed chase on the 14th of last month that killed my son,” Schoenke told council members. “It happened two miles from I-20 on Moreland Avenue in the heart of Little Five Points at 7 or 8 p.m. at night.”

The resolution recommends several key reforms, including:

• Requiring supervisory approval before initiating or continuing a pursuit
• Limiting chases to suspects wanted for violent felonies
• Banning PIT maneuvers in densely populated, residential, or pedestrian-heavy areas.

“Eighty miles an hour down that road, heavily populated, it’s not the first time this has happened. I’d love it to be the last,” Schoenke said.

She emphasized that her criticism is not aimed solely at law enforcement officers, but at the system that allows troopers broad discretion with little oversight in pursuit decisions.