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Police hope GPS trackers can cut down on chases

Minnesota law enforcement agencies look to GPS trackers as a way to reduce high speed chases, as state lawmakers work to clear any legal barriers to the technology.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Ramsey County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Kill has a new tool in his toolbox when it comes to dealing with stolen cars.

He's one of the officers trained to use the StarChase GPS tracking device that can launch a projectile from the grill of his patrol vehicle and attach to a stolen vehicle. The idea is to give officers a safer way to track stolen cars without the need for a high-speed chase.

"If we can get this on a stolen vehicle right away and deploy a tracker we can back off and watch the car on a computer," Deputy Kill told KARE.

The device uses laser targeting to improve accuracy and fires the projectile using compressed air. When an officer arms the device, it builds up air pressure and heats the glue inside the cannister so it will have better odds of attaching to the rear of the suspect's vehicle.

Kill said they ideally should be deployed before the officer turns on the light bars, alerting the driver that something's happening.

"That's a perfect scenario where you want to launch the device before you try to make a traffic stop on that vehicle, because it's likely to flee. That has happened more often lately; as soon as your turn on your lights they take off on you."

Ramsey County purchased three of the StarChase units using a grant from the Minnesota Commerce Department. Kill said the units cost $4,700 each, plus $1,200 per year for the GPS tracking services from the company.

In the meantime, state lawmakers are working to remove any possible legal barriers to using those devices in this state. Rep. Kelly Moller, a Shoreview Democrat, is the author of the House bill dealing with trackers. Sen. Mark Johnson, and East Grand Forks Republican, has Senate version of the legislation.

Rep. Moller, who works as a prosecutor, told fellow legislators that car thieves essentially surrender their Fourth Amendment rights to illegal search and seizure when they steal a car. But there's a state statute that needs to be updated for make the GPS trackers perfectly legal.

"Even though the Fourth Amendment allows this technology to be used in these types of exigent circumstances, our current statute makes it a gross misdemeanor for law enforcement to use GPS technology on a stolen car that is fleeing unless they have the owner’s consent," Moller explained in a Public Safety Committee hearing on the bill.

Moller cited a Robbinsdale police chase in December that claimed the lives of two teenagers, and a Ramsey County chase that began in Maplewood, ending with the deaths of two teen passengers. In that case, the deputy had lost sight of the car he was pursuing before it crashed.

"These chases lead to a risk to public safety, risking the lives of innocent drivers who are on the road, officers trying to stop these cars and anyone in those stolen cars," Moller asserted.

"The use of such technology can enable law enforcement to keep their eyes on the stolen vehicle that is fleeing until they can safety apprehend the suspect."

Ramsey County Undersheriff Mike Martin, who testified in favor of Moller's bill, said that in some circumstances police can get the owner's permission to track a stolen car or work with the manufacturer to tap into the OnStar system or other onboard GPS technology.

But in some cases, Martin said, those GPS connections have been broken.

"This would help us to reduce the risk to public safety, as well as the mission of recovering stolen vehicles," Martin told lawmakers.

Moller's bill in its current form would require that the GPS tracking only happen for 24 hours after the projectile attaches to the stolen vehicle unless law enforcement obtains a court order to extend the time window.

The legislation would also require police agencies to remove the GPS tracker once they recover the stolen vehicle.

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