A double-barreled launcher on the front of the patrol car holds a pair of GPS tracking tags, two cylinder-shaped projectiles about the size of an adult's hand. Heated adhesive on the top of the projectile ensures it sticks to the outside of a fleeing vehicle, and a magnet ensures it stays in place.
Trooper Colton Leary holds a StarChase GPS tracking tag that can be fired from the front of a patrol car. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Each launcher is equipped with a laser to help the soldier aim – where the green dot is, the GPS transmitter will land. The best distance to trigger the trackers is 5.5 to 6 meters, and the soldiers use a console with arrow-shaped buttons to aim at the target.
Police officers can also remotely activate a tracker using a key fob. This is useful if they are standing outside their patrol car and a driver speeds away after a traffic stop.
A GPS tag is loaded into the vehicle-mounted launcher. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The system costs about $2,300 per patrol car per year, according to state police. The agency would like to expand the program if possible, a spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Mark Cyr, head of the U.S. State Police's Homeland Security Division, said the use of the technology has been consistently positive so far.
“We've had tremendous success so far,” he said. “Once we have a successful call, at that point the officer can completely de-escalate the situation, back off, turn off the sirens and the flashing lights and then basically end the pursuit.”
From May 16 to September 8, the trackers were deployed 46 times and in 76 percent of cases the deployment was successful (in 8.7 percent of cases the attachment to the car could not be completed and in 15.2 percent the deployment was due to operator error).
While following a “fleeing” vehicle, Trooper Rob Beer presses the fire button on the control console that controls the launcher on the front of the patrol car.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The aim of the pursuers is to reduce the need for notoriously dangerous police chases.
From 2015 to 2020, there were an average of 370 fatal crashes per year due to police chases, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
On Monday, the mother of a 19-year-old nursing student who died in a 2021 accident in Saugus related to a police pursuit of an unarmed robbery suspect filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston against the city, two local police officers and the alleged robber.
State police conducted 512 chases last year. Through September 11, there were 361 chases this year – a 12 percent increase from the same time last year.
After use, the GPS tag is attached to the top right of the license plate. The police can then track the vehicle's movements.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The tracker technology was developed by StarChase, a private company based in Virginia, and has been commercially available since 2014.
The company said its system is used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies in over 40 states across the country, as well as in the United Kingdom and Canada.
Trevor Fischbach, the company's president and founder, said traditional high-speed chases could have “pretty horrific consequences.”
The technology “removes a lot of the risk from these risky situations that law enforcement agencies face on a daily basis,” he said.
The company's website includes quotes from a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACI) saying that the technology should not be a problem as long as police have reasonable grounds to suspect wrongdoing, there is no time to obtain a search warrant when they intervene, and the GPS tag is removed once they catch up with the vehicle.
However, an ACLU spokesperson said the group “does not endorse surveillance products and we have not authorized any marketing efforts suggesting otherwise.”
“The ACLU's documented statements on this matter should not be construed as an endorsement of any particular brand or type of product,” the spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Mark Cyr (left), commander of the Massachusetts State Police Homeland Security Division, and Major Dan Tucker of the State Police were on hand as State Police officials gave a demonstration of the StarChase technology.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
An operator console inside the state police patrol car controls the StarChase launcher.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The GPS tag can also be activated by a police officer outside the vehicle using a remote control. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Reach Emily Sweeney at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her at @emilysweeney and on Instagram at @emilysweeney22.
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