Delta Police use GPS darts to track fleeing vehicles

Jan 14 2017, 1:40 am

After increased frustration over the “limited capacity” to deal with the increasing number of incidents, Delta Police now have a new tool at their disposal to help them catch vehicles that fail to stop.

The StarChase System as it’s called, uses a GPS dart that is fired from the front of a police cruiser onto any suspect vehicle that fails to stop.

Delta Police will be the first in Canada to use the tech which looks like something you might normally expect to find in a James Bond movie.

How it works

The StarChase System uses a dart which is placed in a compressed air launcher that is fixed to the front of the police vehicle which can be activated from the inside. Once launched, the GPS tracker affixes itself to the rear bumper or licence plate of the suspect vehicle. It can then be tracked by police from afar, avoiding a potentially dangerous pursuit.

Image: Delta Police

The technology launches a GPS projectile from the grill of the police vehicle onto the offending vehicle and can assist in coordinating additional resources to engage with the occupants of the vehicle when it is stationary.

Image: Delta Police

After securing funding from the Delta Police Foundation, a team of officers and fleet mechanics have worked with StarChase personnel over the past several months to equip a total of eight vehicles in the Delta Police fleet with StarChase the technology.

“We certainly appreciate the support of the Delta Police Foundation in funding this project, said Delta Police chief, Neil Dubord. “We are now looking forward to seeing this technology in action.”

Image: Delta Police

However, Dubord said, the detachment recognizes there is no “one tool” that serves as a “silver bullet” to solve any issue.

“I do believe it is incumbent on us to employ advanced technology options that may assist us in our efforts to be effective at doing our job while mitigating risk to the public.,” he said. “The Delta Police will be assessing the workability and functionality of the technology in operational environment over the course of this next year.”

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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