Last year, 21 people were killed in police pursuits in Michigan -- making 2015 the second deadliest year in the past decade for those crashes, according to Michigan State Police statistics.

But a bill meant to increase the safety of police pursuits stalled in the Michigan legislature last year, never gaining a committee hearing.

The number of fatalities, which include numbers from all police departments in the state, is down from 2014, when 27 people were killed in pursuit crashes, the highest of the past decade. But they continued in 2015 and this year.

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The 2015 data includes:

* Nine people killed in Wayne County police pursuits in a total of seven fatal crashes. Six of those were in the city of Detroit.

* Fatal pursuit crashes occurred across the state, in the counties of Bay, Calhoun, Emmet, Kalamazoo, Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, Washtenaw and Wayne.

* In total, there were 509 crashes in police pursuits.

* There were 21 deaths in 17 fatal crashes.

* 274 people were injured in police pursuit crashes.

In the past decade there have been 6,439 total crashes in police pursuits, averaging 644 per year for the decade, accounting for 158 deaths and 3,221 injuries.

That's more than one death per month related to a police pursuit crash.

The statistics include information about which agency wrote the crash report, but do not show which police agency was involved in the crash. The numbers do not include "deliberate intent collisions," the state police said.

The most recent data from 2015 comes from a live database and may be subject to change if reports are updated, the state police said.

'Cities need authority'

State Rep. Sheldon Neeley, a freshman lawmaker spurred by loss of life in police chase crashes in Flint, introduced House Bill 4233 on Feb. 24, 2015, attempting to reduce injuries and loss of life related to police pursuits.

The Michigan State Police are among opponents of the bill, which Neeley claims Republican opponents are "maliciously blocking."

"I'm putting it in the lap of the Republicans," Neeley, D-Flint, said in March 2016, about a year after introducing the bill and seeing no action beyond the initial reading.

"Any future failures as it relates to pursuits firmly rests in their laps. It's on them," Neeley said. "Because we've done our due diligence trying to bring this failure to light, not just to make criticisms but to make improvements so people can be protected."

The bill was submitted to the legislature 40 days after MLive's Jan. 15 series on police pursuit crashes showing 2014 was the deadliest year in a decade.

Gideon D'Assandro, spokesman for Michigan Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, said Cotter had not weighed in on the legislation, but said Neeley should not lay blame with the Republican party.

"(Rep. Neeley) should know how the legislative process works," D'Assandro said, "Getting a bill through committee takes hard work."

I don't know if Rep. Neeley doesn't know how the process works, or if he's avoiding the hard work."

Neeley pointed to the July 1, 2014, crash during a Michigan State Police pursuit in which a trooper struck a car uninvolved in the chase, killing 64-year-old passenger Jacqueline Nichols of Flint. The state has since agreed to pay $7.7 million to settle a related lawsuit.

Neeley's bill targets the Michigan State Police and would require troopers to run pursuits in "conformity with the municipality's local pursuit policy."

Any peace officer of a municipality with a local pursuit policy would have the authority to end a pursuit if it does not conform to the municipality's local pursuit policy under the proposed legislation.

It would take effect in the four "secure cities" communities that Gov. Rick Snyder identified in a 2012 message on public safety - Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Saginaw - all places that have seen increased trooper, Neeley said.

"When you know that's part of the process, you have to safeguard the general public," he said.

A police chase crash that killed two innocent children in Flint is one example of why his bill is important, Neeley said.

Makiah Jackson, 3, and Michaelangelo Jackson, 6, were killed in a June 24, 2015, crash during a police pursuit when a fleeing vehicle ran them over in the front yard of their Detroit home.

View information about fatal and injury crashes during police pursuits over the past decade in the map below. Select visible data layers in the top-right corner of the map.

Neeley said the Detroit Police Department immediately made changes to its chase policy after the crash, but under current law, the changes don't reach outside the city's borders.

Most recently, Neeley said he was outraged to hear the news of a March 9, 2016, police pursuit crash that critically injured two children in Flint, passengers of a vehicle not directly involved in the chase.

"They probably could have taken the license plate down and got her later," Neeley said, adding the woman was not a malicious threat to society. "They could've shot her car with a beanbag tracer."

"I believe that if the state troopers and members of the legislation, and the committee chair would have taken this more seriously, we probably could have avoided tragedy again in the city of Flint," he said on March 9.

The state police told MLive it "routinely reviews all of its policies and procedures" about police pursuits. Official Order 10, which covers vehicle pursuits and emergency driving policies, was last revised in September 2014.

"The MSP Precision Driving Unit constantly evaluates new products and technologies, many of which are in their development stage, to determine whether the products would be effective," a statement from MSP spokeswoman Tiffany Brown says.

The Michigan State Police is opposed to Neeley's bill, Brown said.

"The MSP has a very substantial pursuit policy that is more comprehensive than what the requirements would be if House Bill 4233 was to become law. While the MSP is opposed to the bill, we have had discussions with area law enforcement agencies and the representative regarding the legislation.

"We welcome continued discussions to address any concerns about the MSP's pursuit policy."

The bill sits with the next possible step of a hearing before the Michigan Local Government committee, which is chaired by Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering.

"I have had multiple conversations with Rep. Neeley and have facilitated conversations with the Michigan State Police," Chatfield said. "As we consider a committee hearing, I will continue to work with Rep. Neeley and MSP to address concerns regarding the bill."

Neeley said innocent people have been killed in Flint because of "multiple failures" related to police pursuits, noting cases in 2014. He calls the bill a "living instrument" and he's open to input from legislators.

"I think the bill would open the door to have constructive discussion about policy for pursuits across the whole state of Michigan, not just MSP, at all departments," he said. "When innocent pedestrians are caught in the web of a police pursuit, we have to have an open dialog about protecting life at all cost."

Brad Devereaux is a reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.