Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety, Police/Emergency
LAPD to use GPS projectile to chase crooks
High speed chases with cops and robbers may make for great TV, but the dangerous activity puts lives and property in danger, and sometimes the bad guy gets away. The LAPD has some of the most elaborate pursuits ever put on tape, but the new StarChase Pursuit Management System may help them nab suspects without as much risk to those around them. The device is mounted on the front end of the police cruiser, and a laser target helps with aim. When the police have the suspect in range, they simply fire a projectile at the fleeing vehicle. Once the small GPS device, battery, and cellular radio are attached to the vehicle, the fuzz can track the perp without having them in plain site, which means the police can keep pedestrians from being a statistic.
Only time will tell if the device will truly work, but it's good to see that the Police are coming up with new technology to keep up with ever-improving criminal tech. Hit the StarChase website to check out a product video demo, it looks pretty cool, but as of right now it doesn't look like the projectile firing device kicks out enough force at high speeds for the tracking device to stick. It's a good thing that such a device wasn't in existence 30 years ago, however, because Smokey and the Bandit would have been one short, uneventful movie.
[Source: The Truth About Cars]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Drewboy 7:41PM (9/27/2007)
Why don't they just make a grapple hook to reel them in? Haven't they ever played Grand Theft Auto? Once they're on to the fact that they've been tagged, they'll just hijack a different car.
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SPG 7:51PM (9/27/2007)
I've seen prototypes for that in Europe.
Brett- BMW Advocate 7:48PM (9/27/2007)
This is old news I thought. I saw this on youtube about a year ago. Still cool. Why dont they just shot an immobilizer at the car and stop it right there in its tracks.
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Alex 8:56PM (9/27/2007)
i feel like i remember hearing about such a device. sends a crazy signal that kills the car's cpu.
Matt 12:09AM (9/28/2007)
Probably because immobilizers don't exist. I think I remember hearing something about that awhile back - police wanting to install a radio controlled chip in every car so they could just push a button and shut down any car, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe instead of a small device, they could attach boat anchor... or a boat. or 12 boats. that would slow you down.
SuperSkyline89 9:51AM (9/28/2007)
That was in 2 Fast 2 Furious but I'm pretty sure it's just made up
Brett- BMW Advocate 1:26PM (9/28/2007)
the technology has to be there. maybe not like 2fast 2furious but same concept. send an electrical current like a shooting taser and immobilize the cars electronics... it can be done, i'm sure.
SPG 7:55PM (9/27/2007)
I really like this idea.
We've probably all seen videos or read in the news about an innocent person being maimed or a house being crashed into by someone fleeing the police.
In places if a pursuit gets too out of hand the police are required to let the perp get away to avoid a high speed accident. Now they can do so and not be quite as defeated.
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upirons 8:22PM (9/27/2007)
I question the legality of this. Lets say a speeder flees from a police car. The police use this device in a high speed chase to track the speeder, but at some point the criminal loses the cops and yanks the device off his car and slaps it on someone else's similar looking parked car. Next thing you know some poor innocent schmuck takes their car up to the grocery store and gets pummelled by about 10 police cars and arrested for speeding and fleeing the scene and obstruction of justice. Then the innocent bystander has to prove that they didn't do anything wrong.
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Alex 8:55PM (9/27/2007)
police cars also come with a camera. the license plate would answer your question.
nikoza 12:14PM (9/28/2007)
Are the police going to role the cam footage back before they try to apprehend the "suspects". Suppose its not just a speeder they were chasing but a cop kiler. If the criminal slaps the tracker on your car you might have 30 bullet holes in you before the footage vindicates you (if it ever does).
This seems like a dangerously flawed concept.
upirons 7:20AM (9/28/2007)
...Yes and honest police officers will likely use that information openly. But what if they don't? You could try to subpoena the video evidence of course but this still puts you on the defensive.
nikoza 12:27PM (9/28/2007)
upirons, did you just say the police will PLAY BACK the footage when they spot the suspect and are in pursuit?? Maybe in fairytale land. And as getting a subpoena...well that won't too matter much if you are DEAD. People have died for much, much smaller misunderstandings.
Ignorant fools love giving authority figures as much power as humanly possible. Why don't you just have them plant an explosive at the base of your spine, so they can paralyze you if try to flee a crime.
upirons 12:41PM (9/28/2007)
Nikoza, I think my reply to Alex showed up under yours. We are on the same page actually...
And no I am not suggesting they would play back the footage during a pursuit. I am saying that there *might* be some police who would review the footage while you're sitting in the jail cell. If you MAKE it to the jail cell.
Rob 9:02PM (9/27/2007)
Sounds great, until cops start shooting every other car with a GPS projectile. Look at the taser, once a alternative to using a gun, now cops will taser you for taking too long at the podium at a Kerry rally.
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louis 9:05PM (9/27/2007)
What about drag? Let's say the criminal's car and the police car is traveling at 100 mph. The amount of air resistance on that little device must be massive. So how it perform in that situation?
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MK 10:16PM (9/27/2007)
"What about drag?" Very good question. It didn't look like it was moving that quickly. If the cop car is going too fast, that thing would probably fly back into the grille.
P to the C 10:21PM (9/27/2007)
Screw the GPS. Why not attach a sticky bomb and blow these a-holes to hell? Quit screwing around already.
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danms6 1:13AM (9/28/2007)
So what happens when the driver exits the car on foot?
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Seb 8:36AM (9/28/2007)
I imagine they'll have a sore ass from the GPS device sticking out of it.