BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Police were thrilled when they heard about a new invention that would help officers stop fleeing suspects. They showed off the the sticks with spikes that would flatten a tire in nothing flat. The sticks have now been in use in the Tristate for several years, and local police departments tout their effectiveness.
But out comes the newest innovation in tires -- those that run even when they're flat.
The sticks will still take the air out of the new tires. But the tires could continue to run for 50 more miles. With police chases in the local news more frequently and the new tire's manufacturers promising more and more availability, the question arises: will this often-used law enforcement tool be ineffective soon?
Boone County police and sheriff's deputies last week used Stop Sticks, one type of tire deflater made by a Lawrenceburg company, to deflate the tires on a speeding car after it dragged a Kentucky State Police trooper. The week before, a Springfield, Ohio, man died after his car, which was being chased by a trooper, crashed and burst into flames in Fort Wright.
The sticks were not used in the Fort Wright incident. They were used, however, in last week's Boone County case. And they worked -- the man's tires weren't the new kind.
But a day may come when the special tires come standard on new vehicles, which would leave police to wonder whether their days of using the sticks are numbered.
"We do use them," said Trooper Jan Wuchner, spokesman for the Dry Ridge post of the Kentucky State Police, referring to the tire deflaters. "They come in very handy for us in certain situations." He added, however, that the sticks aren't used in every police chase, only those in which other officers with them can get far enough ahead of the speeder to throw the sticks on the roadway.
At Stop Stick Ltd. in Lawrenceburg, officials are not too concerned. Company representative Cliff Robson said he has been trying for six months to obtain the new, no-flat tires so the company could test them.
"We can't find anyone selling them," he said, in contrast to claims by Goodyear, for example, that the tires are becoming widely available.
Based upon the company's findings, Mr. Robson said he thinks the tires are not very readily available yet.
