Trust fund to curb high-speed chases
Published Feb. 2, 2007
The Missouri General Assembly is considering a bill that would allot funding to purchase real-time pursuit management systems.
The systems would be based on Global Positioning System technology. Law enforcement officers involved in high-speed pursuits would attach the tracking devices to the vehicle they are chasing.
The officers could then slow down and follow at a safe distance without losing track of the fleeing suspect and without using sirens and lights that could potentially encourage reckless driving.
Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, reintroduced the bill this week to establish the Reverend Nathaniel Cole Memorial Pursuit Reduction Grant.
Nathaniel Cole, the grant's namesake, was killed in February 2006 in St. Louis when his car was struck by another vehicle involved in a police chase.
Roorda said he has considered StarChase, a pursuit management system developed by a Virginia Beach, Va., company with the same name.
"It helps avoid the officers being in harm's way, as well as other motorists," Roorda said.
Jim Rhodes, of Rhodes Communications, said the StarChase system will be tested at the Los Angeles Police Department and with the Florida Highway Patrol within the next 30 days. Rhodes Communications represents the StarChase company.
Though it is not being marketed to law enforcement agencies, it is expected to be ready for sale in summer 2007, Rhodes said.
"I expect it to move very quickly in the public safety marketplace," Rhodes said.
Missouri cities affected by the bill would include St. Louis, Kansas City and potentially Springfield. Columbia will likely not see this new technology, as it is significantly smaller than the other cities, Roorda said.
Media representatives from the Kansas City Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department of St. Louis were unaware of the proposed technology, as the bill has just been introduced to the General Assembly.
The bill would establish a trust fund to pay for the new technology. The money from the trust fund would be used to fund this technology in urban environments in the state of Missouri.
Rhodes was unable to estimate the programs' cost to Missouri taxpayers, due to individual department needs and the ongoing testing of the StarChase software.
"Typically, what will happen is a department will purchase the hardware, and also the tracking service on a monthly subscription type basis," Rhodes said.
This type of subscription includes licensing and hardware fees, as well as other related costs, he said.