# LAPD Developing Mini-Taser; Car-Mounted Tracking Device



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*ALISON SHACKELFORD HEWITT*
_Copley News Service_










The Los Angeles Police Department plans to test a smaller, lighter version of its taser gun in a pilot program, police Chief William Bratton said Thursday in announcing several new technology-based initiatives.

If the new tasers prove effective, they'll become part of the officers' standard belt gear, said LAPD Capt. Greg Meyer.

Currently, officers don't have a place on their belts for the handgun-sized tasers they are issued.

"Officers tend to leave them in the car unless they think they're going to use them," Meyer said. "The idea now is to have it on your belt so it's there when you need it."

Police departments whose officers carry tasers at all times have seen fewer injuries because they tend to use their batons and fists less, Meyer said. The pilot program is scheduled to begin Feb. 15, and 50 officers will field-test the new tasers for about three months, he said.

Bratton also announced the opening of a new crime-analysis lab where crime data from all LAPD divisions pours in at once. It's the first time the department has been able to analyze citywide crime trends in real time, he said.

Among the center's features are flat-screen televisions that cover the walls, relaying the latest homicide information, notifying officers of how many police are on duty and piping in several news channels.

The department also plans to conduct a separate pilot program this fall that could reduce the hazards of car chases by using a car-mounted gun to fire a self-sticking tracking device onto a car that officers are following.

The device would transmit the real-time location of the car onto a computerized street map. Once the car stopped, dispatchers could send nearby squad cars to cordon off the area and find the suspect, said Sean Sawyer, president of StarChase, the company that makes the tracking device.

Bratton noted that the device could also be helpful when an officer has more than one car to chase, as happened recently after suspects fired into an LAPD squad car.

"This is incredible technology," Bratton said.


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