VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Over the last year, the Virginia Beach Police Department has been using a new device aimed at lowering the number of potentially dangerous police pursuits.
The device— which is mounted to several police cruisers throughout the Resort City—is called StarChase.
"StarChase is a GPS tracking device that we are able to use," Lt. Jacquelynn Geluso, with the Virginia Beach Police Department, said. "It's an additional tool for us to help track vehicles in lieu of pursuing."
Geluso, who has been a police officer for almost 30 years, said when she first started out, she didn't think this technology could ever exist.
She explained if an officer gets behind a car that may have been stolen or driving recklessly, rather than pursuing the car at high speeds a GPS device can be put on the car.
The device is about the size of a soda can and is launched out of the front of a cruiser by an officer to be tracked down later.
"It [the device] can be tracked via an app through StarChase, and our supervisors can track that along with our Real Time Crime Center," Geluso said.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2020 more than 520 people were killed in police pursuits nationwide.
Almost five months ago, a driver died after he was pursued by police for driving violations in Chesapeake. His car crashed into another car injuring another driver.
"It takes the dangerousness of pursuing, especially at high speeds, out of the equation, so it keeps our citizens safe, our officers safe, and the offender safe," Geluso said.
The police department requires officers who use cars outfitted with the device to be trained and only allows the GPS dart to be deployed for certain reasons.
Trevor Fischbach, president and inventor of StarChase said the device does not violate anyone's 4th amendment right and has backing from the ACLU
"ACLU approves of its use and in my opinion, every GPS tag that finds its mark, saves a life by avoiding a potential tragedy," Fischbach said.
We reached out to other police agencies in the Hampton Roads area to see if they were also using GPS devices.
Newport News and Chesapeake said they are not.
Spokespersons for Hampton, Suffolk, and Portsmouth police both said they were looking to see if devices are used.
Norfolk Police did not respond as of this article's publishing.
