Technology Cannot Replace a Public-Safety First Policy

I wrote a piece for Candy Priano and PursuitSAFETY's Voices on the Street. Distributed on March 17, Voices on the Street is the organization's newsletter. You can subscribe HERE.

There are several factors that go into a safe policy. To begin with, officers must receive adequate training beyond the academy. The fact that officers spend a majority of time in their vehicle does not mean they have the expertise required to safely track down a fleeing suspect.

Second, all departments should have a well-defined policy that clearly states the protocol when dealing with possible pursuits. There should be no doubt in an officer’s mind as to the appropriate action to take in such a circumstance. Officers already have enough on their mind. They need to know—before they “light up” a driver—if their policy allows a pursuit should the driver decide to flee.

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.

OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Released

Below is the press release for OnStar's Stolen Vehicle Slowdown technology. This is a good start, but considering it will only be an available option on a very small percentage of the vehicles out there... A smart, safe, and responsible pursuit policy must be in place in departments around the country.

OnStar Launches Stolen Vehicle Slowdown®

New technology will assist public safety officials
in OnStar stolen vehicle cases, help save lives



DETROIT (October 9, 2008, 12:01 a.m.) – General Motors (GM) and OnStar today launched Stolen Vehicle Slowdown on more than 1 million model year 2009 GM vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is the latest enhancement to OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Assistance service and enables OnStar to further help law enforcement in the recovery of subscribers’ stolen vehicles, while helping to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from police chases. Working with law enforcement and utilizing its unique built-in technology, OnStar can remotely send a signal that interacts with the vehicle’s engine, gradually slowing it down, aiding in a safe recovery.



“No other automaker provides its’ customers the peace of mind that OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown does,” said Chet Huber, OnStar president. “Our subscribers have told us they don’t want their vehicle to be the instrument of harm.”



National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show 30,000 police chases occur each year, resulting in approximately 300 deaths. Stolen Vehicle Slowdown will help take high speed pursuits out of the equation, as well as the probability that a subscriber’s stolen vehicle will be crashed during a chase.



“Prior to Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, there were only three ways to stop a police chase; the officer elects to terminate the chase, the vehicle being pursued decides to stop or in the worse case scenario there is a crash,” said David Hiller, national vice president, Fraternal Order of Police. “With OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown we now have an additional and obviously far safer method. We congratulate GM and OnStar for working with law enforcement as they developed this product.”



GM will integrate the capability on more than 1 million model year 2009 vehicles through OnStar’s newest generation of hardware, Generation 8. Chevrolet, GM’s largest division, will lead the effort with over half a million Chevrolet vehicles equipped with Stolen Vehicle Slowdown.



How Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Works

Once an OnStar subscriber has reported a stolen vehicle to law enforcement, he or she can call OnStar and request Stolen Vehicle Assistance. An OnStar advisor will use advanced Global Positioning Satellite technology to pinpoint the exact location of the stolen vehicle which will be provided only to law enforcement.



Once law enforcement officials have the stolen vehicle in a clear line of sight to know conditions are safe, they can request that the OnStar advisor remotely slow it down. OnStar will then send a signal to the vehicle’s engine, reducing engine power and gradually slowing the vehicle to idle speed while all other vehicle systems remain fully operational including power steering and brakes.



Because involvement from local law enforcement agencies is key to the safe execution of Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, OnStar conducted a 25-city public safety outreach tour across the United States to familiarize the public safety community with this revolutionary service, and let them experience the technology first-hand.



Subscribers who prefer not to have the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown capability on their vehicle may contact OnStar to opt out of the service at any time. The rest of their OnStar services will remain active and unaffected.



OnStar has offered Stolen Vehicle Assistance services with GPS location since 1996. It now receives approximately 700 Stolen Vehicle Assistance requests from subscribers each month, and has helped in 38,000 requests over the past twelve years. OnStar’s suite of services also includes Automatic Crash Response, Emergency Services, Remote Door Unlock, Roadside Assistance, Crisis Assist, OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation, Hands Free Calling and OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics.



OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is available exclusively on GM vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. The service is included in the OnStar subscription that comes standard for one year on eligible MY 2009 OnStar-equipped vehicles. For more information regarding OnStar’s services, please visit www.onstar.com.

The Crookhook...

I received an email a month or so ago that somehow got buried below others. Anyway, it was from someone suggesting I take a look at the Crookhook, a devise mounted on the front of police cars to latch on a suspects car which would theoretically prevent the opportunity for a suspect to flee.

You can read about Crookhook and even view a video HERE.

Our stance remains that we salute the efforts of all inventors, engineers and regular citizens that are developing methods to end police pursuits. However, hope of ending pursuits one day does not take the place of a clearly defined and safe pursuit policy.

OnStar Technology Demo

This Thursday I will be attending a OnStar Technology Demo to ask questions about their "Stolen Vehicle Slowdown" service. To quote the press release: "Police officers in pursuit of stolen vehicles are often faced with the risk of endangering themselves, innocent bystanders and property. OnStar-equipped vehicles involved in high-speed chases, however, can be slowed remotely, enabling law enforcement officials to apprehend fleeing criminals without risking lives or damaging other vehicles."

We will see what I learn and the true possibilities of this being an effective tool for law enforcement. I will update Thursday afternoon.

Belleview News-Democrat

I was asked to comment for a article in yesterday's Belleview News-Democrat concerning the use of video equipment in police cars. Illinois State Police have required troopers to activate their dashboard cameras whenever they turn on their emergency lights. If they fail to do so, they face punishment.

You can read the story HERE.

John Phillips, executive director of Florida-based PursuitWatch, which promotes safer police driving, said law enforcement agencies should post clear policies that limit high-speed chases and responses to violent crimes.

That policy must also be backed up by proper driver training and oversight, Phillips said.

Last year in Illinois, for instance, seven people died because of police pursuits: five were occupants of the chased vehicles, while two were occupants of other vehicles. None was a police-car occupant, according to administration figures.

Some OnStar science... And some reality.

I've been getting some questions as to how this new OnStar "Stolen Vehicle Slowdown" technology works. Now I'll be the first to point out that I am no scientist. So to do some of the explaining for me, check out this article from ars technica. They know technology, and talk about satellites, quantum physics, and all that gobbledygook.

The process for Stolen Vehicle Slowdown would go something like this. A customer calls OnStar to report that his vehicle has been stolen, which would prompt OnStar to locate the car via GPS. OnStar would then provide the car's information and location to law enforcement in the area. The police, when they are able to establish a clear line of sight on the stolen vehicle, can then call into OnStar and request that the car be slowed down remotely. OnStar would then send a signal to the car that would instruct it to reduce engine power, thus slowing the car to an eventual stop.

Although OnStar does provide some potential options for law enforcement, it does not change the mission of PursuitWatch.org. Departments should still submit their officers to the necessary vehicle training, have in place a safe pursuit policy, and provide the proper oversight. Although this could be the beginning of widespread similar technology, right now it is just a drop in the bucket. A vast, vast, vast majority of cars on the road will not have this technology.

Car Chase Stopper: A Response

I notified Car Chase Stopper that I had critiqued their product in a previous blog and they wished to write a response. If you have not read my original post from yesterday, either scroll down or click HERE. I will post their response in color below.

First, thank you for reviewing our site CarChaseStopper.com and for sharing your impressions. We appreciate this great opportunity to get our ideas out in a public forum. PursuitWatch.org has been a great source of information and inspiration for us and we have the utmost respect for the work you are doing.

We at JCCS Inc do not consider the Car Chase Stopper^TM to be a panacea that will forever solve all the problems of police pursuits. We do, however, feel it is a far, far better alternative than existing methods still being used today that too often result in carnage and destruction from those pursuits that go horribly wrong.

Foremost among these methods is the PIT Maneuver, the tool still being used by most law enforcement agencies and still being taught to new officers. As you know too well it is inherently dangerous and is the leading cause of deaths, injuries, property damage and law suits from police pursuits. The PIT Maneuver (Precision Immobilization Technique), is described as a technique by which one car pursuing another can force the pursued vehicle to abruptly turn sideways to the direction of travel, causing the driver to lose control and stop.

This loss of control is what is most responsible for the serious accidents involved in police pursuits.

Alternately, the use of various kinds of spike strips to deflate the tires of a suspect vehicle is only effective when the spike strips can be deployed in front of that vehicle’s tires – not all that often possible. And even when successfully used there is still a risk of an out of control vehicle crashing into whatever is in the way.

Today many police organizations are rightfully backing away from dangerous pursuits because of the risks involved. However there are still times for whatever reason the police feel they must attempt to apprehend a fleeing suspect. As long as this remains the case we strongly believe Car Chase Stopper will be a much safer alternative.

As for the safety and effectiveness of the Car Chase Stopper, we need to point out:

· our video is of the first test of a prototype

· this first test proved the concept works; the device is not yet perfected

· we are seeking partners capable of helping us move forward from here

· our plan is for repeated video-documented professional testing of improved designs

· successful testing will lead to field tests, and from there…

Now, let me address what you saw and commented on. You are certainly correct in saying that the video does not prove it safe. It isn’t designed to.

“First, it requires the police to be VERY close to the vehicle it is pursuing. Of course, this is very dangerous.”

For the prototype test shown both vehicles were at 40 mph. The “capture cable” had an effective range of around 20 feet between the vehicles. The cable used was stainless steel. One new design potential is for a brand new much lighter and far stronger fiber cable that could appreciably extend the effective distance between the vehicles. This cable is now being tested in the form of a net to capture missiles and to entangle large marine vessel propellers.

As for the degree of danger involved, is it more or less dangerous to set loose an out-of-control suspect vehicle that no one knows where and how it will end up than to “lasso” that vehicle and control where and how it ends up?

“If you will notice, once the fleeing car is caught by the device it fishtails to the right... Hmm.”

Again you are correct. The suspect vehicle appeared to fishtail to the right because the cable engaged only the right rear wheel and axle and not the left. Additionally the steel cable, as it wrapped around the axle, caused the right side emergency brake to engage thus causing the rear of the vehicle to swerve to the left – giving the appearance of the front fishtailing to the right. With both wheels and axles snared all action would be forward until the stop. In most cases the police vehicle is easily able to be directly behind the suspect vehicle.

And did you notice how quickly the chase was over, and that the police vehicle did not come close to the pursued vehicle?

A couple of the reasons Car Chase stopper will be more effective and less dangerous than today’s alternatives:

· Car Chase Stopper captures and stops the fleeing vehicle – far less danger of going out of control

· no need to be in front of a fleeing vehicle to deploy spike strips

We readily acknowledge Car Chase Stopper isn’t finished yet. Our hope is by publishing our web site now we can get the word out and attract the help we need to get the necessary work done. All who have an interest can follow the progress as we move forward. We’re hoping all will reserve final judgment and follow our journey with us.

It is important to note that this type of discussion is what will solve the problem of police pursuits. Rather it be with a new technology or safer policies, a true discourse without the mudslinging that tends to go along with this subject is truly what the doctor ordered.

Car Chase Stopper... Is it safe?

I receive, with surprising frequency, many emails regarding new technologies that hope to end police pursuits. The latest is that of Car Chase Stopper, which "is a device mounted on law enforcement vehicles that allows an officer to bring a vehicle being pursued to a controlled and safe stop."

View their website here: http://www.carchasestopper.com/

Unfortunately, I'm not sold on this one. First, it requires the police to be VERY close to the vehicle it is pursuing. Of course, this is very dangerous. Next, it requires compliance from the suspect. In other words, the fleeing car must remain a relatively consistent rate of speed and direction in order to allow law enforcement to get in the correct position and effectively use the device. The video provided on the website does not prove it is safe. If you will notice, once the fleeing car is caught by the device it fishtails to the right... Hmm.

When all is said and done, there are simply too many variables to make this a worthy option for law enforcement.

I, however, would like to thank JCCS inc. for their efforts. It is this type of inventive spirit that will eventually solve the problem of police pursuits.