GPS tag dart ends police pursuit of burglary suspects on Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway
ELMHURST, Ill. (CBS) — Two people wanted in connection with a robbery in Elmhurst led police on a chase to Oak Park Thursday morning—but a unique crime-fighting tool helped lead to their arrest.
The technology involves high-speed darts equipped with GPS. Oak Brook police, who assisted Elmhurst police in the pursuit Thursday morning, have been using them for years.
Dashcam video showed the early-morning chase before a GPS dart eliminated the need for it. Oak Brook police are all equipped with the high-speed dart systems on their cruisers.
Just before 5 a.m., an Elmhurst police officer interrupted a burglary at a liquor store near North and West avenues, according to an Elmhurst city spokesperson. But the armed burglary crew took off.
"The vehicles drove very recklessly at high speed," said Elmhurst police Chief Michael McLean.
The suspects fled in two separate cars, a white Dodge Challenger and an Alfa Romeo, during which the Romeo hit an Elmhurst police squad car. The officer inside the struck squad car was not hurt.
"Fortunately, that officer is doing well," McLean said.
The dashcam video showed the dart toward the Alfa Romeo deploying as police pursued the burglary suspects in the Eisenhower Expressway at Austin Boulevard.
The dart ended the pursuit, and Elmhurst police had both suspects in custody late Thursday.
"These two offenders were wanted for other crimes," McLean said. "We did locate a firearm at the scene, and both have very lengthy criminal histories."
The dart technology that made the assist in stopping the suspects is called StarChase. CBS News Chicago was first to report on it last year.
Using the GPS-equipped darts, police and sheriff's departments in Illinois are following different rules when it comes to chasing a wanted criminal—and when it comes to deciding to end a chase.
"It makes all the difference in the world," Oak Brook police Chief Brian Strockis said. "Police pursuits are inherently dangerous, but I also believe it's very dangerous for criminals not to have any consequences."
GPS darts can be deployed from the front grille of a police cruiser, or from a handheld launcher. Once a dart is affixed to a car, a police dispatch center is able to monitor where the car is going—so officers can safely track it down without the perpetrators knowing, and try to make an arrest.
"There's no warrant necessary to deploy this device. We have reasonable suspicion and probable cause that vehicle is going to flee," said Strockis, "and it's a public safety tool to not only keep the officers safe, but the public safe."
Oak Brook police are using the StarChase darts on a weekly basis, and as in this case, they are helping neighboring departments too.
Meanwhile, Chicago Police have looked at StarChase technology, and are now in discussions possibly to implement it in the city of Chicago.
StarChase released this statement:
"StarChase is deployed at every level of law enforcement from federal, state DPS's (25% of the nation's state patrols), major counties/cities, and agencies of varying sizes down the line (in 40 states). The overwhelming majority of our agency-partners choose to maintain their anonymity for tactical reasons – which we honor as part of our relationship as a vendor. Notable agencies that have publicly acknowledged program adoption in the recent past, NYPD and Mass State Police. Both agencies have done sizable procurements and experienced significantly impactful results. We've far exceeded the 10k deployment number – almost 3-fold.
"Agencies are recognizing the imperative need to adopt different strategies and utilizing technology has been a significant investment to that end. Crime-recognition platforms (LPR, Cams, etc.) have become a necessity for law enforcement and StarChase remains committed to strategically aligning with those resources (Real-Time Crime Centers and Fusion Centers). Oak Brook PD utilizes this exact blueprint. Providing real-time data, when a pursuit (or pre-pursuit) deployment occurs is critical in providing law enforcement the information needed to ensure the appropriate response and resources are allocated to apprehend a suspect under the safest conditions possible. Our integration capabilities allow multiple tools to work collectively and collaboratively to de-escalate these potentially high-risk events. This dramatically improves the safety of the officer(s) and suspect(s) involved and the public writ large."
Charges against the two suspects who were apprehended are expected on Friday. The other getaway vehicle, the Dodge Challenger, was last seen fleeing on I-290.
Investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
