SC Senate Gives Approval To "Blue Alert" Bill

UPDATED WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012

The South Carolina Senate gave final approval to the "Blue Alert" program on Tuesday.   

The bill, authored by state Rep. Eddie Tallon. R-Spartanburg, underwent minor changes in the Senate and now approval from the House of Representatives before heading to Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk. According to our news coverage partners at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, lawmakers have given unanimous approval to the legislation every step of the way, and a spokesman for Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday that the governor will sign the bill into law.

POSTED MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6

It’s called a "Blue Alert" and would send out a message across the palmetto state when a cop is killed or hurt. 

The system works a lot like the Amber Alert warnings on DOT signs, letting folks know a criminal is on the loose.

"If they'll shoot a police officer, they'll shoot anybody," said Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright, of the danger of these types of situations.

Sheriff Wright says the system would help catch suspects faster.

If passed, South Carolina would join about a dozen other states to adopt the alert system, including Georgia, Florida, Virginia and Tennessee.

SLED would be the one to issue the statewide blue alert if a local, state or federal officer is killed, seriously injured or abducted. The criminal would have to be a serious threat to the public and officials would need some information that could help track down that person, like information about the suspect's vehicle.

State Representative Eddie Tallon, who serves parts of Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties sponsored the bill.

"Hopefully we would never have to use it, that would be our wish, that we would never have to use it," Tallon explained.

This one hits close to home. He's a retired agent with the State Law Enforcement Division.

"We had two killings of police officers last year in South Carolina,” said Tallon, “and numerous shot in the state so it's something that's needed. It's something that the Legislature feels very strongly about."

This isn't a done deal just yet, but it's close.

Representative Tallon says it will probably go to 3^rd reading Tuesday in the Senate. He says so far it's passed unanimously, so he's confident Governor Haley will soon see it on her desk.