One often-overlooked police operation is manhunts. These situations can include a large area search for everything from a missing child to a dead body, however most manhunts entail the cordon, encircling and detention of a dangerous criminal. Communicating location and coordinating a cordon over a large area with multiple agencies is no easy task. Management of these dynamic operations is extremely difficult with whiteboards and sticky notes. STING® allows incident commanders of manhunts to replace whiteboards and sticky notes with an electronic map that displays and updates live operator locations automatically. In addition, the live map reduces reliance and usage of voice communications on tactical radios. As a result both commanders and operators can more decisively act which allows for a more effective cordon, encircling and detention of suspects. On February 21, 2014, Oregon State Police SWAT experienced such a situation.
“Oregon State Police (OSP) troopers, with the assistance of a Grants Pass Department of Public Safety K-9 and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officers, arrested a suspect Thursday night who was recently indicted related to investigations into vandalism and
thefts occurring at remote towers and buildings in Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine counties. The arrest occurred following a several hour search near Wolf Creek after the suspect ran from a vehicle into nearby woods.” (Oregon State Police Press Release, 2/21/2014). “We used STING last night on a manhunt in the woods in southern Oregon,” Oregon State Police Special Operations Commander, Bill Fugate, reports. “STING worked awesome and was essential in appropriate containment and the capture of the suspect.”