The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office DWI enforcement unit is now equipped with StarChase GPS technology that allows deputies to track fleeing vehicles without engaging in dangerous high-speed pursuits, Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. announced.
According to the sheriff’s office, the system allows deputies to launch a GPS dart onto a fleeing vehicle and monitor it in real time.
The technology gives deputies access to a suspect vehicle’s location, speed and direction while reducing the need for deputies to continue a high-risk chase.
The sheriff’s office said the device can be deployed from inside or outside a patrol vehicle using a remote. The goal is to allow deputies to track a fleeing vehicle while keeping law enforcement officers and the public farther from danger.
The technology is being used by the sheriff’s DWI enforcement unit, which handles impaired-driving enforcement across Suffolk County.
The sheriff’s office described the tool as part of a broader effort to make roads safer and reduce the risk posed by fleeing vehicles.
“Suffolk County roads just got a lot harder to run from,” the sheriff’s office said in a release on Facebook.
Photos: Screenshots from Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office video.
