This browser does not support the Video element.
SFPD now allowed to use GPS darts to track fleeing cars
San Francisco police have been given the green-light to deploy GPS darts fired from police cars to track fleeing vehicles.
SAN FRANCISCO - It's a high-tech alternative to police chases. A GPS dart fired from a cop cruiser latches onto the getaway car. Officers can then pull back and track the suspects remotely without risking a pursuit that could lead to crashes, injuries or deaths.
San Francisco police got the green light this week to use the StarChase technology.
"StarChase is potentially a game changer," said Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who previously worked for SFPD. He said he supports technology that enhances safety.
"It will enable them to disengage from the pursuit, but still track the fleeing suspects’ whereabouts, so I think this is a technology that’s worth exploring," Dorsey said.
GPS darts already in use in Bay Area
The backstory:
Other Bay Area law-enforcement agencies, including the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and San Pablo and Hayward police have been using StarChase for years.
The trackers do legally constitute a search, and searches usually require a warrant. But there are exceptions.
"One such exception that has long been recognized are exigent circumstances," SFPD government affairs manager Carl Nicita told supervisors at their meeting Tuesday.
Exigent, or emergency, circumstances, includes chases, Nicita said.
"The purpose of StarChase, specifically, is short-term tracking for contemporaneous apprehension allowing officers to disengage from vehicle pursuits," Nicita said.
Shamann Walton, whose district includes Bayview-Hunters Point, was the only supervisor to vote against StarChase.
"Without proper safeguards, this technology can be misused and we know is disproportionately going to affect people of color and erode trust between community and law enforcement," Walton said at the meeting.
But there are some gray areas. For example, if police lose sight of a car they've darted.
"At some point, it goes from you don't need a warrant, to now you need a warrant," said privacy advocate Brian Hofer of Secure Justice. He said StarChse has had mixed results. Like a Gaser, it has to be deployed precisely, often during chaotic circumstances. And you can't beat human ingenuity.
"One or two times where the dart actually did affix to the car, the driver or the passenger just hopped out, pulled the dart off the car and drove off," Hofer said.
Devices don't always attach to cars
By the numbers:
Oakland and Richmond police abandoned the devices, as did the CHP after a pilot study back in 2018 in Bakersfield and North Sacramento.
San Francisco police have been testing these darts since August. Of the 21 times they were fired, the darts attached in all but six cases. But arrests were still made in four out of those six failed deployments, records show.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, SFPD
Tentative deal would give SFPD a 14% pay raise as city faces projected $877 million budget shortfall
San Francisco police officers are set to receive a 14% pay raise over the next four years, thanks to a tentative deal between their union and the City and County of San Francisco.