FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. – The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has launched technology to help reduce high-speed pursuit risks.
What You Need To Know
- NHTSA says more than one person is killed in a police pursuit every day
- The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office has launched the use of the technology, StarChase
- StarChase is a high speed pursuit alternative
Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to protect others every day. From drawing weapons to chasing a violator in a high-speed pursuit, the danger is written on the wall.
“One of the things that is required of them is to enforce the law. And many times, while enforcing law, you may have to pursue those that break the law,” Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. said.
Thousands of police pursuits have happened in North Carolina in recent years, according to the State Highway Patrol.
This month, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office debuted a new addition to their deputies’ toolbox - StarChase.
“This technology minimizes the danger involving pedestrians as well as the deputy, as well as those that are being pursued,” Kimbrough said.
StarChase is a high-speed pursuit alternative, according to their website. Once a pursuit is initiated, a deputy’s vehicle will launch a dart containing a GPS tracker to tag the violator's vehicle.
“Once it hits the violator vehicle, it goes active. And then we can start passively pursuing it from there. So, we're not actively pursuing it with blue lights and siren coming through a busy intersection. We're strategically pursuing it,” Captain Samuel Joyner of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said.
Data is then sent to their Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC), allowing officers to track the violator vehicle safely.
Joyner said without blue lights flashing in their rearview mirror, violators will change their erratic behavior.
“They're bringing their speeds down, their driving mannerisms are coming back to normal, and they're no longer posing a risk for the motoring public. And ultimately, that's our goal,” Joyner said.
Joyner, who has been with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office for over 20 years, said a pursuit is dictated by the violator and based on circumstances such as reason of pursuit, the amount of people on the road and speed.
“We're going to position these strategically all throughout the county so hopefully we can deploy this technology, we can be in discontinue the pursuit. Statistically after that is discontinued, about two to three minutes later, the violator vehicle reduces their speed down 10 miles an hour, or maybe even lower than that,” Joyner said.
The NHTSA says many of the deaths related to police pursuits have been uninvolved parties.
Kimbrough calls StarChase "Star Wars" technology and decided to add the technology to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office after looking at past pursuits and policies.
“In this line of work… if you’re not advancing, you’re not moving forward…you’re standing still. That means eventually you’ll become obsolete. We want to make sure that we’re constantly advancing law enforcement, constantly thinking outside of the box,” Kimbrough said.
The National Institute of Justice found, on average, suspects in cars tagged by StarChase slowed within 10 miles of the posted Speed Limit within two minutes.
Kimbrough said as long as he is sheriff, he plans for this technology to be used by his deputies.
“I’m grateful that I have commissioners and residents of this county that understand we have demonstrated that we will provide the best that’s out there while servicing and protecting,” Sheriff Kimbrough said.
This technology is not new, but is new to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. FCSO is not the only department in the state to have this technology, but they have the most. StarChase will soon be across numerous departments.
The Police Executive Research Forum found StarChase did not result in any property damage, injuries or fatalities resulting from tagging a vehicle.
