As a car bolts away, a device embedded in the front grille of a
pursuing police car launches a small projectile that then attaches to
the back of its target.
It sounds like something out of a Mission
Impossible movie, but this device may help U.S. law enforcement agencies
track vehicles in a safer way than engaging in a high-speed chase that
creates danger for officers, passengers, and bystanders.
The Milwaukee Police Department announced this
week that it will be outfitting its vehicles with a system that launches
GPS trackers. The device, which was developed by StarChase of Virginia
Beach, Virginia, propels a tracking device that looks like a cylindrical
"bullet" with adhesive that can attach to the back of a moving vehicle.
The GPS data is read on a screen in the police car, which locates the
vehicle in real time.
The launcher costs $5,000 per device. StarChase
Founder and CEO Trevor Fischbach says that the cost of high-speed
pursuits is significant. "What keeps us going is unfortunately the
tragedies that happen every single day," he said. "Even the victims that
do survive are generally affected as a result of the accident."
StarChase, which describes itself as a
pursuit-management technology company, says that over 55,000 injuries
occur each year in pursuit-related crashes. According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 10,000 people have been
killed in high-speed pursuits since 1982 - nearly a third of which were
innocent bystanders.
New technologies that track people's whereabouts
have prompted debate about civil liberties and reasonable search.
Advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say that this
form of search should not be problematic if the "police catch up to the
suspect as soon as they can." But police could find themselves at odds
with the law should they use the trackers to learn more about the
driver.
About two dozen police departments are using the
device. The Austin Police Department, which started using the device in
2013 and has 10 police vehicles equipped, has reported great success.
Officers have used the device in 36 pursuits - and they have not had any
officer, suspect or bystander sustain injuries in that time, the
department says. All of the suspects were apprehended, either
immediately or after a warrant was issued.
In at least one case, Fischbach said, the
technology unexpectedly uncovered an instance of human trafficking. In
2009, the Arizona Highway Patrol closed in on a targeted vehicle
suspected of being involved in a drug case. When it was stopped,
officers found nine teenage girls who had been smuggled across the
border from Mexico.
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