Company develops gun technology to help law enforcement

By Emilie Eaton

Bob Stewart is the CEO of Yardarm Technologies, a company that created in a new technology catered to law enforcement, private security companies and the military. (Courtesy of Yardarm Technologies)

Bob Stewart has never fired a gun, which might not be that surprising if it weren’t for the fact that Stewart is the CEO of a company that’s developing a new gun technology catered toward law enforcement, private security companies and the military.

“He’s going to be the CEO for a gun company that has never fired a gun,” said Jim Schaff, the vice president of marketing at Yardarm Technologies, which is based in California.

Stewart’s background is not in guns – in the past he’s worked with cell phones and he developed a piece of hardware that tracks luggage called Trakdot. When a friend asked Stewart if he could use the same kind of technology in guns, he decided to try.

“It was taking the idea that was Trakdot, which was a way to track your luggage, and turning it into something you could then apply to firearms so you could track and maintain a connection to your firearm,” Schaff said.

In the midst of national and statewide debates about guns, Yardarm Technologies is one of several companies investing in new gun technology, such as guns that would require fingerprint recognition to fire, or a bracelet that must be worn for a gun to fire.

The hardware developed by Yardarm is a little different – it’s designed for real-time analysis, but not to prevent a firearm from firing, Schaff said.

The technology, which is placed in the back strap of the gun behind the magazine, records sensory data – if a gun is taken out of the holster, if the gun was fired, in what direction the gun was fired, and the amount of recoil.

Yardarm’s technology is placed in the back strap of the gun behind the magazine, and records sensory data like if a gun is fired and in what direction. (Courtesy of Yardarm Technologies)

Yardarm believes this can help law enforcement officers and save lives. If the command center recognizes that an officer has fired his gun, they can send in backup without the officer radioing in.

“That would allow dispatch to take actions or command to take actions, independent of an officer having to call in,” Schaff said. “It would give them location tracking during critical moments. It would give them post-crime scene analysis of events as they are tied to the firearm.”

Yardarm won’t be going to market with the technology until late this year or early next year. Right now, the company is talking to five different law enforcement agencies that are interested in using the technology. Within a couple months, Yardarm will begin placing the technology in a select few law enforcement’s guns to begin gathering and mapping data.

Schaff says there’s a very robust market for the new technology and he’s optimistic for the future.

“Most law enforcement today is increasing their technology spent to offset reduced budgets and lower man force,” he said. “There’s lots of value we can bring to that space, and that’s the path we’re going down.”

Emilie Eaton is a News21 Hearst Fellow.