White Settlement Police can now launch a GPS tracker onto a car during a chase

White Settlement Police have a new tool to tag and track cars during high-speed chases.

The department said the technology increases their chances of catching drivers in car chases and keeps the community safer during those chases.

According to a federal report, police chases pose a physical, emotional, and economic risk to officers, suspects, bystanders and any passengers.

They recommend that agencies explore using tagging and tracking technology.

That's what the White Settlement Police Department is doing, training officers to use their new StarChase GPS tracking system.

Here's how it works: Police patrol cars have a GPS launcher mounted onto the front, with two GPS tags inside. During a chase, if officers decide to activate the launcher, a green laser projects onto the suspect's car to help them aim. With a push of a button, officers launch the GPS tracker from their car to the suspect's, which sticks using magnets and adhesives.

Once the GPS tracker lands, officers can track it using a mapping feature in their new monitoring system. Officers can decide to keep chasing, or back off from the fleeing car.

"Each situation will vary depending on the suspect’s actions, driving behaviors by the suspect, and the offense the suspect is fleeing from," the department said.

The department said if officers decide to disengage from a car chase, the dispatch center will still receive real-time updates on the driver's speed, direction, and GPS coordinates. They can then send officers to the area without alerting the driver, said the department, or even wait until the car comes to a stop.

“Once the car stops and we feel like the suspect has bailed out, is out on foot, trying to get away from the situation, that’s when we’re going to swoop in," White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook said.

He said the trackers are not easy to remove.

“You don’t just go up and pull it off, there’s kind of a trick in getting it off and we don’t share that information," he said.

He said most chases in White Settlement are for stolen cars, which is a felony, but a property crime. Those, he thinks, can be chases they disengage from, because the risk to public safety might be too high.

“Research suggests that within 60 seconds of a suspect feeling like the police aren’t chasing them anymore, they return to normal speeds. Which increases safety for everyone," Cook said.

He said other times, like in the case of a drunk driver, officers will need to stay in the chase for safety reasons.

Another example, said cook, is if they're pursuing an active shooter.

“That’s probably a pursuit, we’re going to stick with that individual because we certainly wouldn’t want them to stop somewhere and shoot additional people," he said.

The department also said the mapping feature can help officers keep track of when and where a driver might throw contraband or weapons from their car, allowing them to get those items later.

The company, StarChase, reports that its technology has led to an 85% apprehension rate after reviewing 10 years of data.

White Settlement Police said they've done more than 70 active car chases since 2019, not including instances when officers decided not to chase a driver due to policy or safety concerns.

Chief Cook said in just 2022-2023, they've had five major crashes due to chases. One of them was fatal.

"The suspect struck a tree, wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and was ejected and pronounced deceased at the scene," he recalled.

In the other crashes, he said civilians were injured.

“These were innocent people that just were at the wrong place at the wrong time," Cook said.

Each car costs $20,000 to outfit with StarChase. Right now, Cook said they've retrofitted two cars and plan to have six done by the end of the year.

He said if the technology proves successful, he hopes all 18 cars in their fleet will be retrofitted next year.

Cook said the price will be worth it if they can shorten the duration of a chase, and avoid some altogether.

“I can remember a lot of chases that I had, even as a young officer, had I had this technology, we probably would’ve caught more people, and we certainly would’ve reduced our risk," he said.