The End Of The Car Chase?

November 2, 2013 in Daily Bulletin

Thanks to recent technological breakthroughs high-speed car chases may be a thing of the past writes Mike Riggs:

  • StarChase allows cops to fire a specialized gun that launches miniature GPS modules that stick onto another vehicle.
  • Instead of chasing a car that’s breaking the law, the office could just launch the projectile at the car, and then abandon the chase – and track their location.
  • Suspects normally slow down once they realize they aren’t being tailed and since high-speed chases are dangerous for pedestrians and other vehicles the device ensures a safer end to encounters with rogue drivers.
  • The system is pricey. The ‘gun’ costs $5,000 and the non-reusable GPS “bullets” cost $500 a pop.
  • In one test only 25% of the projectiles successfully stuck onto another car meaning that preventing just one chase could cost several thousand dollars.
  • However when compared to the costs of damages that high-speed chases normally result in, the system is still a bargain.

Read about the constitutional questions about the system, what the makers of the device have to say, what the FBI thinks, and where the system is being trialed over here.

Source: The Atlantic