Yet another example of James Bond gadgetry come to life is beginning to surface in police departments around the country.  The new technology is threatening to ruin quality daytime programming such as Fox’s “Wildest Police Chases” in an attempt to make hot pursuit a thing of the past.  

The cutting-edge apparatus dubbed StarChase is in essence a compressed air gun mounted in the grill of a police car, not unlike the ones that shoot T-shirts into sporting event crowds or potatoes at whatever might be hilarious at the time. 

With the push of a dashboard-mounted button, the grill opens and fires a sticky-bullet housing a GPS tracking device.  With the little stowaway attached to the back of a fleeing car, officers can slow down and keep track of the criminal’s location on a computer screen. 

StarChase assumes that if the driver of a fleeing vehicle believes they are no longer being actively pursued they are more likely to slow down, thus reducing the risk of injury and death to innocent bystanders.

For all the damage and violence the StarChase system could prevent it isn’t a cheap gizmo.  Each system costs $5,000 with bullets going for $500 each.

Nonetheless, police in Iowa, Florida and Texas have already acquired the device.  If StarChase proves its mettle, Russian dashboard cams could very well emerge as the last great source of filmed insanity on public roads.

Watch StarChase in action here.       

SOURCE:

Cnet       

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