High-speed car chases may be impressive to watch on the big screen, but they’re no pretty picture in real life. Especially since police cars always seem to be the ones that in Hollywood. There are new developments in technology that could potentially end these deadly high-speed chases.
Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety
The Arizona Department of Public Safety is testing a new device called the StarChase Pursuit Management Systems that shoots a small GPS dart onto a suspect’s vehicle during a car chase. Officers have the ability to adjust the aim of the device, mounted to the front of the cop car, and using a laser pointer, shoot the dart that attaches itself to the back of the fleeing suspect’s vehicle. Thanks to a battery and wireless transmitter in the dart, law enforcement can track the vehicle’s path, follow at a safe distance, dispatch officers to the vehicle’s location, and apprehend the suspect without a potentially deadly high-speed chase.
Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the StarChase Pursuit Management device has been used on stolen cars and human smuggling cases and been extremely effective. Says retired LAPD officer Lt. Raymond Foster, “Technology has enabled us to find new information and new ways of organizing information to help us solve and prevent crimes.”
With these new developments, police officers benefit from a safer work environment and a world where they still get the bad guy. If you’ve been contemplating a law enforcement criminal justice career but have been concerned about safety measures, now is the time to enroll in a criminal justice program. Just think what progress will be made by the time you graduate!
And in case you’re worrying — high-speed chases will never go out of style in the movies.