Used to Apprehend Fleeing Vehicles That Were Pulled Over for DWI
Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. was joined by officials and advocates on April 23 to showcase a new technology currently being piloted in the DWI enforcement unit to allow officers to safely respond to high-risk pursuits.
The StarChase technology includes a GPS-activated dart that is launched to the fleeing vehicle so the officer can apprehend the suspect in a safe manner. The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is the first law enforcement agency in the county to pilot this technology.
StarChase provides law enforcement with the ability to deploy an adhesive GPS tag onto a fleeing suspect’s vehicle. Once it is attached, officers and dispatch utilize the GPS service to track the vehicle in a tactical and safe manner without evolving into a high-speed pursuit.
The technology is proven to be over 85% effective on a host of vehicle offenses ranging from fleeing, stolen vehicles, DUIs, human trafficking, narcotics trafficking, and other offenses.
In the past year, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office deputies have encountered dozens of instances where subjects attempted to flee before or after being apprehended. Only in use for a few weeks, the technology has already been successfully used to apprehend a suspect who refused to yield and was later charged with an aggravated DWI.
“We have seen dozens of people try to evade arrest, causing dangerous situations for themselves, our officers and the community at large,” Toulon said. “With our DWI team equipped with the StarChase GPS technology, it will help them apprehend subjects during high-risk events by safely giving our officers access to their real-time location, speed and direction. This tool will make their work even more effective and our roads even safer.”