Producers of real-live police pursuit TV shows may have to get an honest job soon. A Pasadena-based company is working toward creating a means for police to fry a car's microchips using microwave radiation. The system, which could be operated from a police cruiser or helicopter, would employ intense bursts of directed microwave energy (in the realm of 10 or 15 kilovolts per meter) to overload the chips, causing an alleged perp's car to gradually decelerate. The effects of the system on, say, car thieves' gonads, is unclear, though Sgt. Orville Redenbacher of the Iowa Highway Patrol was quoted as saying, "Mwhahahaha."
Car Chase Tech That's Really Hot [Wired]
Related:
Ohio Police Use License Plate Scanners to Catch Thieves [internal]