| Industry | Vehicle Tracking |
|---|---|
| Area served | USA |
| Website | www.StarChase.org |
StarChase is the trade name of a system developed early in 2006 to track a fleeing vehicle of interest to police. Its components consist of a dart, actually a plastic ball encased in a viscous adhesive which contains a GPS locator and a transmitter, fired by compressed gas from a small mortar on the front bumper of a police car. The system was developed to reduce the need for, and the attendant danger of, high speed pursuits, many of which are precipitated by traffic violations where the motorist is later found to have outstanding business with the court system.
Upon deployment to a target vehicle, the ball begins broadcasting its position to the dispatch center. Catching the vehicle, even without air support, now becomes a matter of strategic interdiction, rather than mere pursuit and interception.
The StarChase system as of summer 2009 was in use by the Arizona Department of Public Safety.[1]