Regional cooperation almost always creates more efficient and effective government. But when law enforcement agencies cooperate to save lives and tax dollars, the results are even better.
Law enforcement agencies in northwest Ohio, and throughout the state, can start such a joint effort by participating in a demonstration this month of a new GPS technology that ends, or significantly mitigates, the carnage and damage resulting from high-speed chases.
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The tracking system by StarChase Technology fires, from a small cannon installed in the grille of a police car, a sticky dart-like GPS tag to fleeing vehicles. When the device attaches to the target vehicle, officers can track its movement in real time on computers, eliminating the need for high-speed pursuit.
Last week, Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp invited more than 50 law enforcement agencies from Lucas, Wood, Monroe, Fulton, Ottawa, Erie, Sandusky, Henry, and Williams counties to a product demonstration on Sept. 17. Sheriff Tharp also invited county sheriffs from throughout the state. Representatives of the Virginia-based company will show how the system works and answer questions at the Toledo Police Academy.
To be sure, law enforcement agencies, and the citizens who fund them, need to learn more before purchasing a system that could cost more than $5,000 a unit, including what happens when officers miss their target and whether the projectiles pose a danger to bystanders. Police leaders also need to determine how difficult it is for their officers to get close enough to a fleeing vehicle to hit it with a tag, especially in a busy urban setting, and whether the new technology raises any legal or privacy concerns.
Costs could pose another barrier. Sheriff Tharp told The Blade editorial page this week that the StarChase system sells for about $5,500 a unit. Northwest Ohio police agencies, however, could likely negotiate a lower price through joint purchasing, the sheriff said. Police chiefs, public safety directors, and sheriffs also need to consider how many of their squad cars would need such a unit.
Having GPS-equipped patrol cars throughout northwest Ohio would not only cut costs but also help police agencies stop a fleeing vehicle as it crosses municipal lines. Given the risks created by high-speed chases, all area police agencies ought to examine this new technology by attending the Sept. 17 demonstration.
In Ohio, between 1979 and 2013, 385 people were killed in high-speed police chases, USA Today reported last month. Nearly 30 percent of those were passengers and 4 percent either pedestrians or bicyclists. That's an average of nearly one death per month in this state.
Nationwide, police car chases have killed more than 5,000 bystanders and passengers since 1979. Tens of thousands more people were injured as officers continued to pursue drivers at high speeds and in hazardous conditions — often for minor infractions, USA Today said.
Bystanders and passengers in chased cars accounted for nearly half of all people killed in police pursuits. Most bystanders were killed in their own cars by a fleeing driver.
Changes in police policies and practices are needed. Long-standing practices of chasing minor offenders must end.
In July, a 26-year old Ohio woman was killed when the man she was with fled police after a suspected shoplifting incident and crashed into three other vehicles in Streetsboro. A chase in Toledo last month did not cause any deaths, but did substantial property damage.
As with body cameras — another necessary tool — GPS tracking systems show that technology is changing law enforcement — for the better. Such technology, and the costs it entails, will make regional and inter-agency cooperation more important than ever.
First Published September 3, 2015, 4:00 a.m.