PEORIA COUNTY, Ill. – The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office is implementing new technology in regards to police chases.
Sheriff Chris Watkins says deputy squad vehicles have had StarChase installed on the fronts. The device shoots darts enabled with GPS at fleeing vehicles during a chase.
The technology was shown off in a Facebook post on Monday by the department, during an early morning chase in West Peoria. A deputy had pulled a vehicle over that had no taillights on, and fled the scene at a high rate of speed and in a reckless manner. The dart was shot at the vehicle, which allowed the deputy to back off, and monitor the vehicle’s location through a GPS program.
The office says the vehicle was found about two minutes later, and a female who had fled the scene was pursued and detained.
Watkins tells WMBD’s “The Phil Luciano Show” the idea came from a Chicago-area police department.
“They’re using it for a lot of retail thefts that turn into pursuits, and they’re trying to safely apprehend those people,” Watkins said. “This has been about a year in the making, and we got them all installed last week.”
Watkins says during police chases, deputies can often run into inexperienced drivers speeding through neighborhoods. He says deputies also may only have seconds to determine the crime, as well as if the weather conditions and time of day can lead to a safe chase.
Watkins says the technology will be tested out for a few years. The sheriff’s office also says the technology had been effective in finding criminal offenses for stolen vehicles, DUI’s, and human and narcotics trafficking.
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