StarChase LLC announced details about its system enhancements which offers enhanced tagging and tracking capabilities. The features will benefit agency apprehension tactics when criminals flee. The StarChase generation 2.5 system reduces the readiness time to an average of a few seconds and provides users with multiple viewing options via Google Street View.
“Often called a ‘virtual helicopter’ by our law enforcement customers, the StarChase pursuit management technology provides responding officers and dispatchers with the near real-time location and speed of suspects’ GPS tagged vehicles,” said Trevor Fischbach, president of StarChase. “Now available with Google Street View, agencies have even more viewing options that provide even greater situational awareness of suspects’ location and route. This enables dispatch to better coordinate law enforcement’s response to a fleeing suspect while avoiding a dangerous high-speed chase.”
The StarChase pursuit management system is mounted behind the grille of a police vehicle. When confronted with a high-risk vehicle or a suspect who will not stop (once lights and sirens have been activated), officers use a laser sight to target the fleeing vehicle and then deploy a cylinder-shaped GPS tag from the grille-mounted launcher. The GPS tag adheres to the suspect’s vehicle and transmits precise location and speed back to police dispatch, enabling all responders to view the location and movements of the tagged vehicle in near real-time using Google Street View via a secure Internet connection.
By using StarChase, pursuing officers can ease off of the suspect’s vehicle, while precisely tracking and directing other appropriate response units to assist with the intercept. StarChase eliminates the need for most dangerous highspeed pursuits, which kill more than one person each day in the U.S. and injure over 55,000 people each year (according to U.S. government data).
To provide law enforcement agencies with even greater purchasing power, StarChase has launched the StarChase 100 Club, which provides participants with 10 pursuit management systems, free standard installation, and one year of unlimited GPS tags to replace those deployed during pursuits. Participants also receive training on all aspects of the StarChase system including operation and maintenance. The StarChase 100 Club gives law enforcement customers a proven way of reducing the risks posed by high-speed chases—destruction of property, lawsuits, injuries and deaths—at a 50 percent savings. Grant support, direct purchase and leasing options remain as part of this
“StarChase has been used in during ‘high risk’ vehicle situations with outstanding results, measured in terms of avoided chases, reclaimed stolen property, and safely apprehended offenders,” added Fischbach. “There is overwhelming data that demonstrates StarChase dramatically reduces the officer and public safety dangers associated with traditional high-speed pursuits.”
The StarChase pursuit management system is being used by law enforcement officers in a dozen states and has been credited with scores of successful tags, resulting in arrests without crashes or injuries. According to test bed research funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), law enforcement’s use of the StarChase system results in apprehension rates greater than 80 percent, with no injuries, fatalities or property damage.
