Skip to main content

US police use GPS tracker darts

Police in Florida and Iowa are using a GPS tracking system that shoots a dart-like tracker at a target vehicle, enabling them to remain a safe distance behind, but still have a way of tracking the vehicle’s location and speed.
September 2, 2014 Read time: 1 min

Police in Florida and Iowa are using a GPS tracking system that shoots a dart-like tracker at a target vehicle, enabling them to remain a safe distance behind, but still have a way of tracking the vehicle’s location and speed.

The system being enables police to shoot the GPS tracker from an air cannon that is attached to the front of a police car; the tracker sticks to the vehicle and tags it. Once the GPS tracker is attached to the vehicle, police are able to monitor its speed and location from a remote location via a real time map, without the need for a potentially dangerous high speed chase.

Related Content

  • Bristol’s buses trial CycleEye detection system
    July 7, 2017
    Fusion Processing’s Jim Hutchinson looks at a two-year trial of the company’s cyclist detection system. Is cycling in a city dangerous? Well, that depends where you are and how you view statistics. Malmö is far more bike-friendly than Mumbai and the risk can either be perceived as small - one death per 29 million miles cycled in the UK in 2013 - or large - that equated to 109 deaths in the same year. Whatever your personal take on the data, the effect of these accidents can be felt indirectly too. News of c
  • New solutions to old problems set to cut emergency response times
    April 30, 2015
    David Crawford looks at the latest developments in emergency response. Ensuring speedier reactions to transport and travel crises is becoming increasingly important. US statistics suggest that as many as 1,000 ‘saveable’ lives can be lost each year in major cities because of operational defects in their SOS operations.
  • Jenoptik highlights Vector ANPR cameras
    April 4, 2016
    Jenoptik, the international solution provider for global traffic safety, is highlighting its Vector ANPR cameras which are a vital tool used by police and security forces around the globe. Operated in temporary and long-term installations, Vector is able to rapidly identify and report on vehicles of interest. Working as stand-alone units, or part of a wide ANPR network, Vector provides a 24/7 monitoring capability, with each camera capable of capturing thousands of plate reads every day.
  • In-vehicle systems as enforcement enablers?
    January 30, 2012
    From an enforcement perspective at least, Toyota's recent recalls over problems with accelerator pedal assemblies had a positive outcome in that for the first time a major motor manufacturer outside of the US acknowledged publicly what many have known or suspected for quite a while: that the capability exists within certain car companies to extract data from a vehicle onboard unit which can be used to help ascertain, if not prove outright, just what was happening in the vital seconds up to an accident or cr