About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article about the StarChase Pursuit Management System. StarChase fires a GPS loaded projectile at a fleeing vehicle. Once the projectile is attached, it allows the police to back off the pursuit and electronically follow the vehicle in hopes of a less volatile ending.
Assistant Chief Melanie Bevans has said that the St. Petersburg Police will be trying out the StarChase technology because, “This is something that we have found that we think will make (pursuits) just a little less dangerous.” Police chases resulted in 17 crashes in 2012 for the St. Petersburg Police. St. Pete will be the first police agency in Florida to evaluate StarChase.
Chief Bevan stated, “We’re in the evaluation stage. We are willing at the police department to try something new. If it works, we are willing to add a new and valuable tool to our tool chest. If it doesn’t, then we go back and try something better.”
Randall
