Welcome
I’m Candy Priano—writer, advocate, and a mother whose mission begins with one unimaginable night. That moment exposes a truth most Americans never hear: police pursuits kill innocent bystanders. These aren’t people running from police. They’re parents driving to work. Children walking to school. Friends heading to the movies.
Fifteen Forever
A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Fight to Protect the Innocent
Fifteen Forever pulls readers into the reality of a police practice few question—until it shatters their family. Grief hurls me into this fight, but the faces of other parents keep me moving forward. I once believed Kristie’s death stood alone, until the tragedies mount—each one echoing the last. My daughter’s preventable death sparks a movement to protect innocent bystanders and police officers alike.
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Inside the Book
My memoir opens on the night my daughter dies—killed when police officers chase a nonviolent driver straight into our path as we head to Kristie’s basketball game. At her casket, I lay an orange rose and feel the world split. This isn’t fate. It’s a choice—a preventable one.
People say, Move on, as if grief were an on-off switch. Families like mine know better. These crashes don’t come out of nowhere. They follow a pattern far too many refuse to see—a pattern that leaves innocent lives in the crossfire.
Across the country, I meet people whose courage refuses to let these stories fade.
This is our story—and the warning no one can afford to ignore.
My Daughter, My Joy
Watch me read from one of my early drafts of Fifteen Forever at the Butte County Library in Chico, California.
For Agents and Publishers
Fifteen Forever rises from a fight no parent expects—challenging police pursuit laws that prioritize chasing nonviolent drivers over protecting innocent people. The danger cuts deep. The answer isn’t a ban. It’s common sense: limit pursuits to suspects who pose an imminent threat and train officers in tactics that save lives, including their own.
The memoir braids my firsthand experience, the failure of justice, and the long push for Kristie’s Law—a statewide restrictive pursuit standard closely aligned with national recommendations from the Police Executive Research Forum.
Along the way, Fifteen Forever amplifies the voices of families blindsided by the same nightmare—innocent bystanders killed for no reason at all.
After seven drafts, the manuscript stands at 86,000 words and is ready for representation.
Contact: candypriano@kristieslaw.org or call 530-519-9754.
If Police Chase Laws Protected the Innocent,
My Daughter Would Be Alive Today
As Kristie’s mother and founder of PursuitSAFETY, I’ve spent twenty-plus years sitting in kitchens with grieving families, standing beside officers fighting for safer policies, and knocking on doors in the halls of power. A preventable tragedy pushed me into this work—but the people I met along the way gave it purpose and the strength to keep going.
The need has never been greater.
In 2023, federal data revealed pursuit deaths surging to nearly two a day in the United States, with at least one-third innocent bystanders. Thousands more live with life-altering injuries. This crisis stretches far beyond our borders, taking children, spouses, parents, siblings, and friends around the world—numbers rising with no promise of life-saving action.
(Recommended reforms: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services & the Police Executive Research Forum.)
Our Blog: I’ll be posting updates on police pursuit news, laws, and behind-the-scenes notes on the Fifteen Forever Blog. Stay close.