HERE FOR YOU
A Note from Candy Priano:
Welcome to a safe place for people impacted by the tragedy of pursuit crashes (vehicular police pursuit and police-response calls).
When it happened to my family on the way to my daughter, Kristie’s high-school basketball game in 2002, we learned that we were not the first bystanders or the last to endure the death of a loved one killed as the result of an unnecessary pursuit. After working for four years advocating for a statewide restrictive pursuit policy in California, giving testimony at state Senate hearings, appearing on hundreds of news broadcasts, and telling Kristie’s story to anyone who would listen, I could not stop.
In 2007, with assistance from others, I founded PursuitSAFETY®. It is the first and only national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of its kind serving people from around the world. We at PursuitSAFETY® are committed to reducing the number of unnecessary vehicular police pursuits and response calls. We work with law enforcement to work toward our shared goal: to prevent this tragedy from happening to others.
Central to PursuitSAFETY’s® mission is our passion to provide a safe place for injured victims of pursuit and bereaved families—a place you can turn to for the support you need. You only need to remember one phone number and one email—both are direct lines to me. Candy Priano: 530-519-9754 or candy.priano@pursuitsafety.org. I answer and return every call, e-mail, and letter from innocent victims and their families.
I do not hold degrees in counseling or the law, but I will listen and try to provide you the knowledge so that, by uniting together, we can bring about the change we all seek.
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We Are All Working For a Safer Way
Your tributes and special events bring awareness to this public-safety issue. We are all working together to make our roads safer. In addition to tributes, families have set up fundraising events that help us get the word out about the inherent dangers of vehicular police pursuits. These events contribute to PursuitSAFETY’s® Education and Victims’ Advocacy programs. With all that you do, we see examples of the love that exists through our pain in every event and every fundraiser.
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Baseball for Brian
In the fall, right around the World Series playoffs and Brian DeWitt’s birthday, Baseball for Brian celebrates the life of Brian, pictured here with his mother, Deborah.
Brian is another innocent victim of an unnecessary police pursuit that occurred in Illinois. Every year, family and friends from the Southwest Side of Chicago offer love and support to Brian’s family and make a financial donation to PursuitSAFETY. Pictures from this annual event show how much his parents, sisters, extended family, and friends love this young man. -
Preventing Broken Hearts
During February, Esther Seoanes honors her husband, James “Awesome” Williford by campaigning for Preventing Broken Hearts. Esther and James filled every Valentine’s Day with love and joy. Esther says, “Preventing Broken Hearts allows me to raise awareness and money to continue our work to reduce the number of unnecessary pursuits and, consequently, prevent the tragedy of pursuit from happening to others. Together, we save lives.”
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Steven’s Legacy of Love
One of Steven Ehrensperger’s greatest joys in life was helping people who needed a break. He was always helping his friends and coworkers and would lend a hand to a stranger. Some of the ways that family and friends honor Steven today is through Steven’s Legacy of Love. They continue his legacy by helping others in a variety of ways: providing scholarship support to students at Georgia Tech, hosting annual blood drives through the Red Cross, and by financially supporting PursuitSAFETY.
Every year, PursuitSAFETY® serves 200-plus bereaved families and injured individuals impacted by the tragedy of pursuit and response-call crashes. We have requested pursuit policies, provided research, and we listen to people who call us at all times of the day. Please see what we are doing in our courts to prevent the tragedy of pursuit from happening to others: Courts and Legislation.
Nearly 1,000 people follow us on our combined social media formats, including Facebook likes and group pages, and Twitter.