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.

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.

GPS and OnStar: No exception to sound policy

Last October, GM announced that 19 of its new models would be equipped with the technology, through OnStar, that would allow law enforcement to ask the engines of cars they were pursuing to be remotely shut off. The idea is that this would bring a safe and quick end to these situations. Around the same time, the LAPD was testing StarChase, a devise mounted on patrol cars that shoots a GPS tracking devise that sticks to fleeing cars. Considering Los Angeles had over 600 pursuits last year, any new testing is a welcomed idea. Both StarChase and the OnStar products use state of the art technologies which no one could have imagined years earlier would be possible. Fox News, the USA Today, and CBS News called, wanting to know what I thought about these exciting new technologies.

They asked: “Do you support these technologies?” Yes, I support all technologies that might make the job of law enforcement safer and more effective. Much like the two-way radio, helicopter, and the computer have helped police protect their communities, StarChase and OnStar might once prove as important as those previously mentioned. I understand that when an officer engages in a pursuit of a suspect, he or she is putting their life in danger every time. If these technologies make it possible for more officers to go home safe to their families every evening, then let us see if it works.

“Will it make pursuits a thing of the past?” They continued, adding “If police had this technology in 2001, would your sister still be alive?” I can answer both of these questions at once: I don’t know.

But this is what I do know, that the potential for these technological advancements does not take the place of safe and smart policy. First, the costs of these new technologies are high, and with the already incredibly stretched budgets of out nations departments, don’t expect to see devices on your local patrol cars that can shoot a GPS tracker onto a suspects car anytime soon. The StarChase technology requires the suspect vehicle to be either stopped or going very slow at a close range. What if the patrol car doesn’t get anywhere near the suspects car? Let us also not forget that this new OnStar technology will only be included on a small fraction of the vehicles out there. Chances are this wont be an option in the vast majority of situations for many years.

Some have come to me, including The Economist, wondering what I thought about the civil liberties implications of these new technologies. Could these devices be easily abused? Would this allow law enforcement to always know what I’m doing? Is this Big Brother? This is not my place to comment. However, this side of the debate shows even more so the need for clear and defined policy that lets officers know what can and can’t be done. Hopefully, a policy that clearly states the wrongs and rights of these technologies can cut down on cases that might bring civil liberties issues into question.

So, until that time, all departments should adopt a policy that requires adequate training for police officers, only pursues those who are suspected of committing violent crimes, allows for complete and painstaking review of all incidents, and makes available to the public all requested information. Until this becomes common practice, these technologies are no more than a story in the newspaper.

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.

USA Today, the Early Show, and Good Morning America

OnStar unveiled a method to potentially stop stolen vehicles fleeing from the police today. Read the article in todays USA Today featuring PursuitWatch.org:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2007-10-09-pursuits_N.htm

Also, if you can, catch my comments on CBS' Early Show and Candy Priano on Good Morning America.

More reaction to come throughout the day...