DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The Dearborn Heights Police Department is installing devices on its police cruisers that can launch GPS trackers onto vehicles they are pursuing.
“We don’t like when these people go running through our neighborhoods, cars parked on either side, hitting cars. God forbid, hit a citizen,” said Paul Vanderplow, Director of Support Services for the Dearborn Heights Police Department.
Vanderplow said the Dearborn Heights mayor and city council approved the purchase of the devices, and he believes they will cut down on the number of high-speed chases within city limits.
“Within the calendar year 2023, we’ve already experienced roughly 140 pursuits, and I’ll tell you, Mayor (Bill) Bazzi and city council recognized that one, it’s not safe for our officers, it’s not safe for our citizens. When they saw this, they wanted the police department to find additional tools that we can find to kind of stack the deck in our favor, to bring this type of technology to Dearborn Heights and to the region, to where we can pursue some of these vehicles, and bring some of these bad actors into custody that need to be taken off the street,” Vanderplow said.
The Dearborn Heights Police Department is the first to use the technology known as Star Chase.
Vanderplow said that if an officer is in pursuit of a suspect and the pursuit becomes dangerous, the officer can launch a GPS tracker from the police cruiser onto the suspect’s vehicle. This will allow police to back off the chase and avoid a reckless situation that endangers the public.
Vanderplow says he understands the potential legal concern related to the 4th Amendment, which relates to illegal search and seizure.
“First of all, there are some exceptions to the 4th Amendment that allows us to do this: exigency, public safety, safety for our officers. But it’s not a surveillance tool; it’s a tracking tool. The devices only last for a few hours – a short duration,” Vandplow said.
The GPS launcher will be attached to the front of police cruisers and can be deployed at an impressive distance. However, in the event a device strikes an individual, it does not cause any serious harm. Police said they do not intend to aim the device at individuals if they were to exit the vehicle. The intended purpose is to shoot the GPS tracker onto the back of a suspect’s vehicle.
The ends of the device are gooey, sticky substances that adhere to almost any surface.
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BY Gino Vicci
/ CBS DETROIT
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