StarChase

{{Short description|US company selling GPS tracking technology}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox company

| logo =

| logo_size =

| name = StarChase. LLC

| industry = Vehicle tracking system

| area_served = United States

| homepage = {{URL|StarChase.com}}

}}

StarChase is a company that produces GPS tracking devices of the same name, for law enforcement purposes. Developed from early 2006, the less-than-lethal vehicle tagging system tags, tracks, and locates a fleeing vehicle.{{cite news |title=GPS bullets are latest weapon for American police |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24731080 |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=British Broadcasting Corporation |date=29 October 2013}}

The system was developed to reduce the need for an inherent danger of high speed pursuits.. The US National Institute of Justice at one time was looking at technologies to reduce personnel and property damage, including tyre deflation devices, electronics interference (through electronic discharge immobilising devices, electromagnetic radiation devices, and directed energy devices), and remote tracking.{{cite web |title=Technology for Pursuit Management |url=https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/technology-pursuit-management |website=National Institute of Justice |publisher=Government of the United States of America |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=3 March 2013}}

StarChase components consist of an electronic tag in the form of a small, cylindrical projectile with one end covered in a viscous, industrial strength adhesive, which contains a battery-operated GPS tracker and quad-band transmitter (powered by a 1300 mAh dry cell). The projectile is fired by compressed air from a small launcher on the front grille of a police car.{{Cite web|url=https://starchase.com/assets/downloads/StarChase%20Tech%20Specification%20Sheets%20UPDATED.pdf|title=StarChase Tech Specification Sheets – UPDATED|date=10 Sep 2015 |website=StarChase.com |publisher=StarChase LLC |location=Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226002647/https://starchase.com/assets/downloads/StarChase%20Tech%20Specification%20Sheets%20UPDATED.pdf|archive-date=26 December 2019|access-date=26 Dec 2019}} The deploying vehicle must be within {{convert|25|ft}} range of the offending vehicle.{{cite news |title=Making police pursuits safer |url=https://www.courier-record.com/articles/featured-stories/making-police-pursuits-safer/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=Courier-Record |date=8 November 2023 |location=Crewe, Virginia, USA}} The tracking signal location is then monitored from a dispatcher's computer screen. In 2013, the vehicle-mounted solution was US$5000 per installation, and $500 for each bullet. By 2023, the device was US$5900.

The StarChase system, as of mid-2013 was in use by the Arizona Department of Public Safety,[http://www.azdps.gov/Media/News/View/?p=115 "Press Release: DPS becomes the first state-level law enforcement agency in the country to deploy the StarChase Pursuit Management System; The system, which DPS has already used with great success during pursuits, launches a GPS tracking device at fleeing vehicles"]. Arizona Department of Public Safety, September 30, 2009. Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Austin Police Department,[http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2013/02/14/apd-employs-gps-dart-system-to-track-suspect-vehicles "APD employs GPS dart system to track suspect vehicles"]. Daily Texan, February 14, 2013. and other agencies globally including the Ontario Provincial Police.{{cite news |title=OPP to fire GPS darts at fleeing vehicles to avoid high-speed chases |url=https://toronto.citynews.ca/2017/05/19/opp-to-fire-gps-darts-at-fleeing-vehicles-to-avoid-high-speed-chases/ |access-date=14 February 2024 |work=CityNews |date=19 March 2017}}

By early 2023, the company released a variation using a rifle platform called the 'Guardian-HX'. Based on the AR-15 rifle, pressurised gas propels the tracking projectile, and the rifle magazine well holds the battery.{{cite web |last1=DaSILVA |first1=Steve |title=The NYPD Can Now Shoot GPS Trackers at Your Car |url=https://jalopnik.com/starchase-guardian-hx-nypd-vehicle-gps-tracker-police-1850327888 |website=Jalopnik |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=13 April 2023}} The projectile travels at {{convert|37|mph}}, and has to be discharged by the rifle user within {{convert|35|feet}} of the offending vehicle.