Silicon Valley startup Yardarm Technologies Inc. has had its share of growing pains since it debuted a sensor that records when a gun is unholstered or fired. Yardarm decided to target law enforcement agencies and private security firms to avoid the pitfalls and politics of the consumer gun market. The company didn’t have to look very far to find its first partner, testing the technology with the nearby Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office last fall. Yardarm owes much of the success of this partnership to one man, former Sheriff Phil Wowak, who is now a paid adviser for the company.
Here’s a timeline of important events in Yardarm’s relationship with Santa Cruz County.