LAPD Using GPS Darts to Track Criminals

By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

I must admit that my wife and I enjoyed the show “World’s Wildest Police Videos” while it was on the air. Half the fun, of course, was the host, John Bunnell and his commentary. These types of shows, though, may be a thing of the past with the new tech that the LAPD is trying out.

They’re going to be testing the StarChase Pursuit Management System. If things work out as planned, rather than chasing culprits, they will attach one or more of these trackers to the ciminal’s car and track him down later, eliminating the need for a dangerous high-speed chase.

Once the gun is fired a sticky dart fitted with a GPS will be propelled from the officer’s car, which will stick to the fleeing vehicle allowing the police to track its location sans the need for a high-octane chase. Each “StarChase LLC” device will fire 2 GPS enabled darts, in case the first one misses or does not stick to the target vehicle. Each dart will comprise a battery and a radio transmitter embedded in a sticky compound. Source: TechTree

We Say: This reminds me of nothing so much as the Spider Tracer that Spider-Man uses (pictured above) . But I have the same question I ask in terms of the Spider Tracer. What’s to prevent the guy from pulling the unit off the car? On the other hand, the idea is to reduce high-speed pursuits, and this would certainly do that.