One of the most common tropes in spy films is the protagonist's ability to mark a suspect from a distance with a discreet targeting arrow. This way they can secretly track the villains wherever they go. Well, this is no longer a spy movie trick – it's reality, as police departments have started tagging fleeing vehicles with GPS trackers, eliminating the need for high-speed pursuit.
The Old Westbury Police Department in New York uses vehicle-mounted launchers during a car chase that fire foam projectiles containing a heat-activated, sticky adhesive at fleeing vehicles. Wireless GPS tracking systems are integrated into the projectiles, allowing police to track the car's whereabouts. The launchers and darts are manufactured by StarChase, which also rents handheld devices to the NYPD, among other things. The idea is to prevent car chases, which are dangerous and often pose a risk to the public.
“Police pursuits are strongly discouraged,” Old Westbury Police Chief Stuart Cameron said, according to Gothamist. “The statistics simply speak for themselves…Suspects are injured, officers are injured and even members of the public are killed and injured in these chases.”
This is exactly the type of situation the trackers are designed to prevent. AP News via YouTube
The launchers are mounted on the front of police cars, so officers only need to pursue a fleeing vehicle long enough to mark it with a sticky arrow, and then they can retreat and track its location. The arrows are fired with compressed air and are intended to travel at a speed of around 50 km/h and stick without causing damage.
However, these tracking darts are not only used on Long Island. Police departments in Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state and others have begun equipping them. However, the use of these trackers in civilian vehicles raises questions about their constitutionality, as some have argued that they violate Fourth Amendment rights. A 2012 Supreme Court case, United States v. Jones, ruled unanimously that GPS tracking of a car without a search warrant constituted an illegal search and violated the Fourth Amendment. However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has stated that there is no problem with GPS tracking darts “if this is the case.” [they’re] “Used in ways everyone probably imagines,” in the words of Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the ACLU. In other words, if the arrow is fired during a chase with a fleeing vehicle, its use is likely legal as long as the tracker is then removed after the vehicle is caught.
While GPS tracking arrows are not entirely new, they are becoming more widely used by law enforcement. On the one hand, it seems a little dystopian that police are getting into the habit of tracking vehicles in this way, but on the other hand, if used correctly, they have the potential to save anyone from a dangerous accident.
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