An European Union (E.U.) working group is considering
giving police remote car-stopping technology in an attempt to
eliminate high-speed car chases. Nothing says creepy like police
equipped with removed, quasi-telekinetic powers resembling Darth
Vader’s.
The plan requires a “built in standard” for the E.U. car market
to be
implemented by the end of the decade. In other words, all new
vehicles will require the installation of a complimentary
car-stopping technological device.
Police will
monitor videos from removed control rooms. They will have the
ability to shut off a car’s ignition from their disconnected
headquarters.
In December, Statewatch, a non-profit watchdog group, uncovered
the European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services
(ENLETS) document that describes the new plan. The ENLETS
document
reads:
In most cases the police are unable to chase the
criminal due to the lack of efficient means to stop the vehicle
safely.
While proposed technology could potentially improve road safety
and hobble runaway cars, the benefits of prevent car chases doesn’t
necessarily outweigh costs to car manufacturers and cuts to civil
liberties. Tony Bunyan, Director of Smartwatch,
told The Telegraph:
“Let’s have some evidence that this is a problem, and
then let’s have some guidelines on how this would be used.”
E.U.’s Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security
(COSI) signed off on it, meaning, as The Telegraph
explains, “The project has the support of senior British Home
Office civil servants and police officers.”
Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, called the measure
“incredible” and a “draconian imposition,” and issued a rallying
cry for political retaliation.
It’s hard to imagine an idea like this remaining under wraps. It
could inspire U.S. police, who have considered a variety of
controversial police-empowering tech like
GPS-tracking bullets, and
psychic arrests made imaginable by Big Data and NSA bulk
data collection.
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