Milwaukee plans to purchase GPS tagging program for police pursuits

Milwaukee Police Department plans on purchasing a GPS tagging program in its effort to identify safer, technology-driven alternatives to vehicle pursuits.

Milwaukee Police Department  announced its anticipated initial purchase of Pursuit Management Technology units from StarChase.  

Chief Edward Flynn said, “I have been to too many funerals for officers and innocent people killed in police pursuits, commonly over trivial traffic infractions.  I tightened our pursuit policy in order to reduce the likelihood of needless deaths and injuries.  As I have said many times, if our only solution to combat people fleeing from the police is to engage in dangerous high-speed pursuits in police cars, then we have failed as a society.  The purchase of this new technology is a step in the right direction of finding alternative means for apprehending criminals without unnecessarily endangering life.”

The system includes a pneumatically-powered GPS tag to be deployed from an equipped squad car and attached to a target vehicle.  Once the vehicle is tagged, the GPS movements can be monitored by officers and dispatchers alike, allowing for a safer, more focused, more effective apprehension of a suspect who flees.  

The Department has participated in vendor demonstrations of these units and has decided to move forward with an initial deployment and field test.  

Information about this technology can be found here: http://starchase.com/technology.php

Common Council President Michael Murphy added “The use of this technology-driven approach to public safety is a great means of balancing the need to apprehend suspects while reducing the likelihood of injury or fatality of police officers, offenders and private citizens.  I fully support this initiative.”