Belle Meade, Tennessee with its population of about 3,000 doesn’t seem like the kind of place most people would expect a car theft problem to exist, but it does. For that and other reasons, the police department has outfitted each cruiser in the fleet with a GPS dart system. And for the second time, officers have used the technology to successfully catch a suspect.
Watch Florida police use the Grappler Bumper to end a chase immediately.
Most people still don’t know anything about this newer crime fighting tool. Mounted to the front of a police car is a system with a sticky dart or two. The officer can take aim and fire while following behind a suspect, the dart sticking to the suspect’s vehicle and feeding all officers in the department with real time updates of the precise location.
The idea is these GPS darts can be used for low-risk pursuits, allowing officers to back off, hopefully avoid a chase that puts regular citizens in danger, and later corner the suspect. While we don’t expect this technology will put an end to police chases, it could reduce how often they’re needed.
According to WKRN, this second successful deployment of a GPS dart by a Belle Meade officer happened after a plate recognition camera got a hit on a stolen Chevy Silverado driving around the city.
As the officer pulled the truck over, he deployed a dart, realizing the potential for the driver to run was high. However, the female suspect didn’t flee.
However, back in the middle of February, Belle Meade officers used a GPS dart on a stolen Hyundai, pegging it right before the teen driver saw the police cruiser and started driving at high speeds to escape. Police backed off, tracked where the car went, then took the suspect into custody when he stopped.
Smaller police departments can usually afford the GPS dart systems for most if not all of their cars. While it’s a handy tool, it’s not exactly cheap. But we expect to see even more stories where it leads to the arrest of suspects without a dramatic chase.
Image via WKRN/YouTube
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