Overheard: Bullet car chase has new meaning

The Los Angeles Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol will be the first two beta testers for the StarChase Fixed/Mobile Asset Tracking System.

More cop technology designed to make car chases obsolete. The StarChase system, which is fairly low tech compared to other schemes like HPEMS, lets police shoot a GPS tracking bullet from the front bumper of the police car and tag the back of the vehicle they’re pursuing. The goal? To allow police to follow the bad guys at a more leisurely pace.

On a similar note, General Motors plans to equip 1.7 million of its 2009-model vehicles with an OnStar system that will allow a police officer to remotely slow the engine of a stolen vehicle to idle speed.