A double-barreled launcher mounted on the front of the cruiser carries a pair of GPS tracking tags, two cylindrical 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 launched from the front of a police cruiser. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Each launcher has a laser that helps the soldier aim – wherever the green dot is where the GPS tag will land. The best distance to deploy the trackers is 18 to 20 feet, and soldiers use a console with arrow-shaped buttons to locate the target.
Officers can also use a wearable key fob to remotely trigger a tracker, useful if they are standing outside their patrol car and a driver is speeding away from a traffic stop.
A GPS tag is loaded into the vehicle-mounted launch vehicle. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
According to state police, the system costs about $2,300 per cruiser per year. The agency wants to expand the program if possible, a spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Mark Cyr, commander of the State Police Homeland Security Division, said the use of the technology so far has been mostly positive.
“We’ve had tremendous success so far,” he said. “Once we have a successful operation, at that point the officer can fully de-escalate, back away, turn off the sirens, turn off the flashing lights and then basically end the pursuit.”
From May 16 to September 8, the trackers were used 46 times and 76 percent were considered successful (8.7 percent failed to attach to the car and 15.2 percent failed due to operator error).
While following a “fleeing” vehicle, Trooper Rob Beer presses the fire button on the operator console that controls the launcher on the front of the patrol car.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The aim of the trackers is to reduce notoriously dangerous police chases.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 2015 to 2020, there were an average of 370 fatal crashes per year due to police pursuits.
On Monday, the mother of a 19-year-old nursing student who died in a 2021 accident in Saugus that involved police pursuing an unarmed robbery suspect filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city in U.S. District Court in Boston and two local police officers, an officer and the suspected robber.
State police conducted 512 chases last year. As of September 11, there have been 361 prosecutions this year – a 12 percent increase from the same time last year.
After use, the GPS tag is attached to the right above the license plate. Law enforcement 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 more than 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 activities could lead to “pretty terrible results.”
The technology “significantly alleviates these risky situations that law enforcement agencies face every day,” he said.
The company's website includes quotes from an American Civil Liberties Union official that the technology shouldn't be a problem as long as police have probable cause for wrongdoing, don't have time to obtain a search warrant if they use it, and the GPS tag will be removed as soon as you have caught up with the vehicle.
However, an ACLU spokesman said the group “does not endorse surveillance products and we have not approved any marketing efforts that suggest otherwise.”
“The ACLU’s documented statements on this topic should not be construed as an endorsement of any particular brand or type of product,” the spokesperson said.
Lt. Col. Mark Cyr (left), commander of the Massachusetts State Police Division of Homeland Security, and state police Maj. Dan Tucker were in attendance as state troopers demonstrated the StarChase technology.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
An operator console inside the state police cruiser controls the StarChase launcher.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
The GPS tag can also be placed outside the vehicle by a police officer using a remote key fob. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22.
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