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.
Many guns come with a hollow space in the pistol grip. In handguns, it’s a narrow area that’s typically the length of the handle and sits next to where the magazine is loaded. 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. Along with issuing alerts, the device can tell when officers have become separated from their firearms.
Co-founders Bob Stewart and Joaquin Menezes dreamed up the idea that became Yardarm’s gun-tracking technology in the wake of the December 2012 massacre in Sandy Hook, Conn. This tragedy prompted many people to think about new ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Gun advocates complained that Yardarm’s prototype could stifle people’s freedom to use guns whenever they wanted.
It’s not a bulletproof vest and it’s not a magic bullet, but it is a safety device that will bring assistance to those that are out there every day putting their life on the line for their community.
Even though Yardarm is working exclusively with law enforcement, that doesn’t mean it’s ruled out a consumer product. Firearms and weapons commonly used by police tend to catch on with consumers
Source: c/net