The Los Angeles Police Department is showing off a new GPS-enabled dart to help cops catch criminals who are speeding away. StarChase's Pursuit Management System consists of a tiny GPS receiver/cellular transmitter in a glue compound. The police officer uses an air launcher to fire the tracking device at the fleeing vehicle. The device then wirelessly transmits its location for display on a Web-based interface. From the Los Angeles Times:
(LAPD Chief William J.) Bratton hailed the dart as "the big new idea" and said that if the pilot program was successful, Los Angeles' seemingly daily TV fix of police chases could be a thing of the past.
"Instead of us pushing them doing 70 or 80 miles an hour … this device allows us not to have to pursue after the car," Bratton said. "It allows us to start vectoring where the car is. Even if they bail out of the car, we'll have pretty much instantaneously information where they are."
Link (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)
