BEND, OR -- The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office is finding success using high-tech tools to track suspects. As reported earlier this week, deputies recently arrested a Redmond man and recovered a stolen pickup with the help of the StarChase System. Sgt. Josh Spano says the Sheriff's Office started using StarChase a couple of years ago, as a way to avoid dangerous high-speed pursuits, "And a much less expensive alternative than chasing people through the city or through the county or on the highways."
He says the Sheriff's Office tries not to engage in a high-speed pursuit, "I try to imagine, if my wife and kids were on the highway, would I want a couple of police cars chasing somebody 100 miles an hour down the highway to catch this person that's either wanted or has expired tags on a car, or even a stolen car? Because property's all replaceable, family members aren't."
StarChase is used only in certain circumstances, "If we have the ability to pre-plan a traffic stop, like on a wanted subject or a fugitive, or if we have the ability to not be in a pursuit." And only a handful of patrol cars are outfitted with the system, "It has an aiming laser on there and once it's deployed, a dart - like, a sticky dart about the size of a Coke can - comes out [pictured]. Once it heats up, it sticks to the object or the vehicle and it's got a GPS device in there so we can pull back, not have to go get in a crazy pursuit with anybody, which is what we're trying to avoid these days."
A deputy or technician then tracks the vehicle's location in near real-time, until it stops, "And then, [they] help direct units, set up a perimeter, if there's a partner agency because a vehicle decided to go to a different jurisdiction, will help coordinate with them, and then eventually lock it down and try to go track where the person went or where the vehicle's at. And in the case of a stolen vehicle, try to recover the vehicle for the owner."
He notes there is a margin of error and not every dart hits its mark. But overall, Spano says the Sheriff's Office is pleased with its success rate.
Photo courtesy of StarChase LLC
