TexasCHLforum.com

http://www.cnet.com/news/can-these-gun- ... CAD590a51e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

" The company's thumb-size wireless location- and movement-tracking sensor fits snugly in the butt of a Glock handgun. That sensor could shorten emergency response time, defuse deadly situations and create a log for crime analysis and evidence.

Yardarm, based in Capitola, Calif., is now field-testing the technology with two police departments: One in Carrollton, Texas, a Dallas suburb, and the other in Santa Cruz, south of San Francisco on California's northern coast."



" Yardarm's first tracking device plugs in to the empty space in the handle of a Glock handgun, the preferred pistol in the field for roughly two-thirds of the nation's police officers.

That tracking sensor takes care of three basic tasks: knowing when the gun is removed from its holster, determining if and when the gun has been fired and recording the gun's GPS location. The Yardarm sensor immediately sends that data to police dispatch as a real-time alert. That instant notification is vital, since the vast majority of deadly incidents with law enforcement happen without dispatch knowing the officer's location, according to the Santa Cruz Police Department."

Interesting ...

This makes sense and is a good idea for law enforcement. The problem is when this type of technology becomes a requirement for privately owned firearms.

How is a senser like this going to defuse possible violent situations?

It might not defuse an immediate situation, but it will alert the department that something is happening in real time, other officers can be dispatched quickly knowing that deadly force is on the table, and the overwhelming force could save an officer's life, lives of innocents, and in that sense, defuse the situation, right?

gdanaher wrote:It might not defuse an immediate situation, but it will alert the department that something is happening in real time, other officers can be dispatched quickly knowing that deadly force is on the table, and the overwhelming force could save an officer's life, lives of innocents, and in that sense, defuse the situation, right?

I think it's more like an emergency flare: unlikely to immediately improve the situation, but now they know you're in trouble and where you are.

Of course, the downside is that half the dept will respond, they'll all be on a hair trigger because if it wasn't an emergency the officer would've phoned home, and because said officer didn't call dispatch they won't know what the situation is when they arrive. What could possibly go wrong, eh?

I think it will help defuse situations by making officers more reluctant to draw their weapon. But, it has the drawback of notifying the dispatcher every time an officer draws, and in a large department, that could be enough to confuse the dispatcher with the crying wolf syndrome. I drew my weapon a lot of time when I never fired or intended to fire it, just to be prepared if I did need it. If it only sends the alert to dispatch when it is fired, this woul dnot be a problem.