The Police in Ramsey County, Minnesota, are utilizing Sticky GPS trackers to apprehend fleeing suspects with out resorting to harmful high-speed chases, The WaterStrider GPS tracker, developed by StarChase, is mounted on legislation enforcement autos and launched at fleeing automobiles utilizing a pneumatic launcher, attaching itself to the suspect’s car, offering real-time GPS coordinates and velocity to the officers.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Workplace adopted StarChase tech within the spring of 2022, spending $36,000 on the product and tech help. The expertise is seen as a safer various to high-speed pursuits, permitting legislation enforcement to trace suspects remotely from their computer systems and coordinate arrests extra safely.
The system consists of a launcher powered by compressed air, mounted on squad automobiles, or behind the grille of unmarked autos — The launcher holds two cylindrical monitoring units which might be fired on the suspect’s car utilizing a laser-assisted management panel contained in the squad automobile; As soon as hooked up, the GPS tracker relays real-time details about the car’s location.
The sticky GPS trackers are described as “part-magnet, part-adhesive” and are activated utilizing a heating ingredient that ensures the adhesive sticks even in moist or soiled situations. The trackers could be simply eliminated after suspects have been apprehended.
Woodbury police and town of Maplewood are additionally using StarChase expertise to scale back the necessity for high-speed chases. Woodbury police budgeted $60,000 for the system, at present put in in seven squad automobiles. The expertise has been profitable in aiding arrests and gives a safer various to conventional pursuits, which pose vital dangers to suspects, legislation enforcement officers, and the group.
StarChase’s monitoring tag. (Picture: Official website)
Beneath Minnesota legislation, using GPS trackers is restricted to monitoring stolen automobiles, and monitoring can solely happen for twenty-four hours (until prolonged by a search warrant). Legislation enforcement businesses should take away the GPS tracker as soon as the stolen car is recovered.
The expertise has confirmed efficient in decreasing the dangers related to high-speed chases, with a mean suspect apprehension price of 86% in comparison with a reported nationwide price of 72% for conventional pursuits. Regardless of its success, legislation enforcement officers emphasize that the expertise is just not a one-size-fits-all resolution and should be used judiciously in particular conditions.
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