Tagging Devices To Aid In Car Chases

kthejoker writes "ABC News is reporting that a company called StarChase has invented a device that will allow police teams to 'tag' cars involved in dangerous chases. The device is the size of a golf ball, can be launched via an air-powered shooter attached to police vehicles, and uses a "highly efficient" glue to stick to cars. From there, it transmits its GPS position to a central monitoring station."

Re:Ok...

[LiquidCoooled]

Keeping up with a car in a highly visible chase scenario might be the most dangerous way to handle a criminal with a deadly weapon.
Better to let them think he has outstarted the police and hopefully back off a little bit.
High tensions and a rush hour road or pedestrian town centre don't generally mix.

Liability

[Ghoser777]

If the police pursue a criminal in a high speed chase and someone else gets hurt as a result of it, the police have a good chance of being sued. The tagger would help tremendously in this department, as it encourages the person being pursued to ditch the car at some point instead of flying around the roads like a maniac.

useful in a practical sense too

[joe 155]

it could well help avoid fatalities in road chases, the police can then hang back and not push too hard on the person they are chasing, this should help take some of the tension out and reduce the risk of the criminals trying something stupid and killing people, police helicopters can then be called in to keep track and the people in the car can be arrested when it stops (or if the tyres are blown out in a safe place)

This fills a need

[Anonymous Coward]

Car chases careening through L.A. mowing down pedestrians like wheat aren't just the stuff of action movies. They're actually a significant danger.

And for as long as people have been saying, "Chasing people down residential streets at 80 miles an hour is dangerous, for Pete's sake!" the standard reply has been, "Well, we can't just let them go."

Now, maybe they can let them go, and the Bigger-Dick Theory of Car Chases can finally be put to bed. Stick them with a tracking dart, surprise them when they're sleeping. Just like Batman. Except with less bats.

Re:Ok...

[ScottyLad]

> "Why can't they just keep up with the car to begin with?"

As mentioned above, high speed pursuits are extremely dangerous,and usually the police will want to back off if they are in a built-up area and they can track the perpetrator via other methods without aggravating them further.

>"but chance are the cost makes it very impractical."

As opposed to, say, smashing a patrol car or two, before slamming in to some unfortunate motorist who just happens to be crossing an intersection, America's Greatest Police Chases stylee?

"Besides, why should the police get all the fun toys?"

Because they're funded by the taxpayer to use all available resources in the fight against crime - so they have a budget for technoloy like this if it's going to prove cost effective (for example in reducing pursuit collisions).

Re:Why Only Police?

[LiquidCoooled]

Lets run through your scenario.
Your driving down the motorway/freeway minding your own business, driving carefully at around the speedlimit and some speed freak comes tearing past and undertakes you.

You take out your Tag rifle and aim it at the car in front.

Lean out of the window and take aim, but whilst you are doing this you swerve and take out 3 cyclists also minding their own business.

Re:Why unglue when smashing will work?

[LiquidCoooled]

If the criminals have to stop to smash it from their rear bumper then surely its job is done.

I see win-win with this device in most scenarios.

what if car is stolen ?

[Anonymous Coward]

this will help tracking car but not the person in the car. if police stop chasing person because they think they can track using gps signal, person can leave the car ( if car is stolen ).

Re:Why Only Police?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ten seconds after such a thing gets into the hands of the public it'll be stuck either to someone's forehead or a dog's butt.

Re:Why Only Police?

[VIPERsssss]

That would never work. You'd have too many people tagging that "asshole because he's richer than me" porche driver and the "holier-than-thou" prius driver and the "gas guzzling enviro-hater" SUV driver just because they don't like a particular $STEREOTYPE. I'd probably be safe in my $500 sable, though.

Re:Wicked Idea

[FyRE666]

I don't see why they don't fashion some sort of electrical disruption device, like those trident things out of "2 Fast, 2 Furious" that the cops just shot into a car. Not only were they effective (unless the drive manages to somehow lean out of the window far enough to reach the back of the car and prize the 2 foot spear out of the bodywork while travelling at 100mph), but they look cool too.

I'm pesimistic

[DongleFondle]

It seems to me that anyone willing to engade in a long hi-speed pursuit is just the sort of person that this will NOT be effective with. I understand wanting to avoid long pursuits. In fact, in my city, as a matter of policy, police officers will not engade in a pursuit with motorcycle in the downtown area. The combination of speed and the crowdedness of the streets are simply not worth the risk.

Also, think about the nature of the pursuits they are wanting to avoid. We've all seen it on cops. Driver takes off going way in excess of 100 mph on city and neighborhood roads. If the cops are lucky, they can radio ahead to other police officers and setup road blocks or put down tire strips. But the suspect always either nails the cops with his car and keeps going, or blows his tires out and keeps going along right on his rims shooting sparks every which way. Sometimes, the cops will perform that move where they catch up to the fleeing car and ram it on a rear fender which sends the driver spinning out of control. Sometimes this works. Sometimes they spin out and hit people and just keep on going. Sometimes they even get the suspect trapped between two cruisers and run at the driver, pistols drawn. And sometimes the drivers just smash their way right out of this almost killing the police officers in the process.

Yeah, I understand the need to want to curtail all of this dangerous activity. But what the last thing you always see from your airial police-cam? The driver gets out and starts running. My guess, if the person fleeing is desperate enough to get involved in a high speed pursuit, then they are also probably going to run after they ditch their car. If the cop is hanging back, I seriously doubt they are going to catch them.

Re:Why unglue when smashing will work?

[Tx]

If the criminals have to stop to smash it from their rear bumper then surely its job is done.

I see win-win with this device in most scenarios.

The device would be pointless if the police are right behind them anyway. OTOH if the cops are far enough behind to make a GPS tracking device useful, the perps will be able to take 30 seconds to stop and take a bullet/boot/brick to the thing. I'd say the GP poster makes a fair point.

Re:Liability

[pnewhook]

If the police pursue a criminal in a high speed chase and someone else gets hurt as a result of it, the police have a good chance of being sued.

Wouldn't it made more sense to sue the fleeing criminal? It's their actions that would have caused the bystanders injuries.

Re:Ok...

[canuck57]

The best is still a chopper with night vision, so when the perp leaves the car they can be followed. After all, the value is in getting the criminal.

Re:Why unglue when smashing will work?

[Saven Marek]

Also if it hits paint which is the most likely area of a car for something to hit its going to come off easily no matter what. The only thing holding the thing on no matter what strength glue it is, is the bond between paint and metal. And thats not strong. It's like when your sister glues your hand to the car because she caught you with the cat and you think the superglue is going to bond you to the outside of the car but you find the paint comes off in the shape of your hand. You're free even if the glue has held onto the paint.

Not So Easy

[Old Spider]

That's not a bad idea at all. A hand-held launcher has one huge flaw: while you are chasing a suspect's car you are also likely speeding through the streets with the other vehicle, attempting to avoid obstacles and pedestrians, talking to other officers, trying to keep up with where you are so you know what to tell the other officers, and bouncing around inside your car. Now try tagging someone with one of these trackers at the same time. Not only would you be unlikely to make the shot, but you'll also be putting your life and quite possibly other people's lives in further danger.

With this device another officer at dispatch could remotely aim and fire the vehicle-mounted device. However, using pre-installed GPS devices are far less costly to the police force and probably a bit more reliable, but this tracking ball is a great back-up in case someone didn't comply and someone else stole that particular vehicle.

Then again... there are such things as helicopters. ;)

Not a silver bullet

[spiritraveller]

The idea that this will end high-speed car chases is seriously far-fetched.

If a policeman relies on this device and stops chasing the guy, the common criminal will simply ditch the car and get away.

The reason cops chase people is so the bad guy doesn't get away. Maybe it will help in situations where the police can't help but lose sight of a car in a chase, but how often does that happen outside of the movies?

Re:Ok...

[c0007031]

I also think that if this weapon starts to be used a lot, the fugitives will also escape into dense cities, undergroung parkings, etc because they know GPS devices cease to function there. Anyone has an idea of how the data of the device is transmited back to the police... maybe that is another thing to work around...

Re:Not So Easy

[FinestLittleSpace]

I would presume that this would be fired by an assitant officer in the passenger seat?

Re:Why unglue when smashing will work?

[stunt_penguin]

Oh yea,

1. Get out of vehicle
2. Fetch hammer from trunk
3. "PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM"

The point of the technology is to stop high speed pursuits from becoming more dangerous- by ensuring that the suspect cannot get away, police vehicles can back off a few hundred meters and wait for the driver to stop of his own accord/come to his senses/run out of fuel. The moment he stops, the police wil be on him in seconds and he'll be arrested.

Costs?

[tod_miller]

You are joking right?

This is basically cheap ass battery and GPS unit that is so over produced today they are cheaper than peanuts. By Peanuts I mean slightly premium quality ones, that may costs 30$ a unit.

And glue, well, that isn't exactly expensive, add on some air based cannon, not very expensive at all.

Of course, the whole process of development is expensive, so you should be glad when such development that your taxes goes into comes out with something that can reduce get aways, dangerous chases and crime.

Re:Liability

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, let's encourage them to ditch the tagged car, and steal/carjack another to continue their escape.

Re:Not a silver bullet

[massivefoot]

I think people are taking an over simplified view of this. Just because police cars have dropped back does not mean the suspect is no longer being persued. In the UK it seems to be standard practise to call in a helicopter to follow the car. This device would simply make it easier for the police helicopter to distinguish the car from others around it, and would also allow for the possibility that officers lose sight of the car before a helicopter arrives.

Yes, the criminal will most likely ditch the car eventually, at which point he will still be visible to the helicopter pilot, who will be able to direct police cars back towards the suspect.

what happens if the criminal panics.....

[techmedic]

What happens if the criminal panics?? More specifically, what will happen if the criminal thats being chased looks out his window and sees the cop aiming what looks like to be a gun at the car? Granted it would be pretty unrealistic to expect the officer to pull right up, point the thing out the side window and shoot while driving along side, but even so, one of three things could happen. The criminal can shoot back (very doubtful but who knows in a car chase). Or the guy can panic, loose control of the car, sending it into who knows where, or he can go at even faster speeds trying to lose the cop. Or he could just stop and the chase would be over ;) Its pretty obvious that these darts have to be shot discretely.

Re:Wicked Idea

[hungrygrue]

Wow, have you ever driven a car? Do you have the slightest clue how your steering or brakes work? I would suggest that you find out. Why, exactly, would you ever begin to think that the car would suddenly become "uncontrollable", regardless of what speed it is traveling just due to a failure of electronics? If you suddenly have no ignition and therefore no spark, your engine will die. That's it. If your headlights were to be lost as well, that would rather suck if you were traveling at high speed on a country road with no street lights - but that has nothing to do with the vehicle becoming uncontrollable, that just means that the driver can't see where the hell he is going. You steering is not electrical or electronic at all, I don't care what you are driving. Once your engine stops, you will no longer have a power steering pump, which means that you won't be able to whip around a corner with one finger on the wheel, but you will still be able to steer and bring the car to a safe stop. The same goes for brakes, you won't have power assist so you will have to use some muscle and push that brake peddle down, but you will still be able to stop/slow the vehicle.

It wouldn't take that long

[HangingChad]

Some of you suggesting the perp could just stop and pull the sticky thing off should realize that when they stop, they'll have about 30 maybe 40 seconds, tops. That's a Chinese Fire Drill. Dispatch will know right where they are in real time and will be able to put units along their route. It won't stop the chase, the cops will just be able to drive at a more sane speed. Certainly it will give them a chance to ditch the car and flee on foot but I don't think they're likely to kill many people on foot.

Tag 'em and bag 'em may not sound glamorous but I for one welcome our new sticky dart, GPS tracking overlords. It'll be safer for everyone.

Re:Wicked Idea

[Xymor]

actually my car has a EPS [bba-reman.com] ( Other cars with Eps [nsxprime.com] ) and think of the impact of this in honda's autopilot car [jalopnik.com] so, this idea could prove to be very dangerous indeed.
Besides that there's a lot of critical eletronic-systems already very much in use such as ABS eletronic-breaks [jalopnik.com]

Re:Shoot back

[Anonymous Coward]

You, sir, are an idiot.

Re:Wicked Idea

[TubeSteak]

Modern brakes are designed to be used with a power assist.

When your electrical system crashes, the alternator dies, which means the vaccuum pump won't be working, which means you'll lose hydralic pressure.

Standing on the brake pedal without the power assist is like standing on a rock. Someone going 100 miles an hour while trying to evade the police is probably going to end up wrapped around the nearest immovable object if you kill their power steering/brakes at the wrong moment.

Any situation where using one of those giant electric spears is safe, means that you could have used spike strips to blow out their tires.

Running from the police is a lot harder these days. If you really want to get away from the cops, buy a motorcycle. Even the dinkiest motorcycles can out-accelerate and out-corner a Police Interceptor Crown-Vic.

And a motorcycle makes a harder target for their little sticky GPS bundle of love.

Re:Why try to hit the car with anything at all.

[KillerBob]

There are times when stalling the car would cause more damage than good. On a crowded street, it could very easily cause an accident, and get people killed.

Quite aside from that... what about manual transmissions? And what happens when somebody figures out how to do it? No. Way too dangerous an idea. Far and above, the safest thing to do in a "high speed" chase is tag the car and break off the chase. Let them think they've gotten away, so they can slow down to a more sane speed, and then pick them up when they stop for gas, food, or some other kind of rest.

Re:I'm pesimistic

[bear_phillips]

I think you are over estimating the intelligence of criminals. I like to watch COPS too. It drives me nuts when the cop stops a guy for a routine traffic stop then I see: Cop: "Can I have permission to look in your truck: Guy: "Uh, Uh, yah sure" Cop: "Looky here, a pound of drugs" Guy: "Uh, I don't know how it got there. Its my friends, uh I its not mine"

Re:useful in a practical sense too

[NormalVisual]

True, but not every enforcement agency has access to a helicopter, not every helicopter is equipped with FLIR (making them less useful at night), and in any case helicopters are very expensive to maintain and operate, so I'd think this would be of interest from a financial perspective in addition to the tactical benefits.

A smarter system

[Deadstick]

...would be a 20mm cannon. That way when the cop misses the fugitive car and hits a pedestrian, the pedestrian won't be around to file the lawsuit.

rj

Re:Shoot back

[ndansmith]

You should submit this article to eHow. I am sure many people would find it quite helpful.

Re:Wicked Idea

[slacktide]

Who modded this fool insightful?

Vacuum assist brakes have NOTHING to do with your electrical system. In 95% of cars, they get vacuum from the engine manifold. What this means is that as long as the engine is turning, regardless of whether it is firing or not, you have vacuum. The other 5% (mostly on turbocharged cars) get vacuum off of a vacuum pump which is mechanically run off of the engine. Again, nothing to do with the electrical system.

Now, have you actally ever DRIVEN a car with a broken vacuum assist? I have, and while you do need to apply more pressure, the car never approaches being out-of-control.