bait car
{{Short description|Decoy car used to catch car thieves}}
{{other uses|Bait (disambiguation)}}
{{for|the American television series|Bait Car (TV series)}}
{{globalize|2=Anglosphere|date=April 2024}}
A bait car, also called a decoy car, hot car, or trap car, is a vehicle used by law enforcement agencies to capture car thieves or thieves who steal items from cars.{{Cite web|url=http://www.baitcar.com/bait_car_program_now_includes_theft_vehicles/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219084643/http://www.baitcar.com/bait_car_program_now_includes_theft_vehicles|url-status=dead|title=Bait Car Program Now Includes Theft From Vehicles|archive-date=February 19, 2015}} The vehicles are modified with audio/video surveillance technology, and can be remotely monitored and controlled. Those set up to catch car thieves may include GPS tracking. A "kill switch" may be installed in the vehicle allowing police to remotely disable the engine and lock all doors, preventing escape. A car set up to catch thieves who steal items from cars may be disabled so that it cannot be started and have specially prepared "bait property".
Overview
The bait car, often filled with valuable items to draw attention to it, is typically parked in a high-auto-theft area. In usual cases, the vehicle is simply left unlocked with the keys in the ignition.{{cite web|url=http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2008/12/12/police-department-using-bait-to-catch-car-thieves-in-the-act/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121012023/http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2008/12/12/police-department-using-bait-to-catch-car-thieves-in-the-act/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2016|title=Police department using bait to catch car thieves in the act|date=December 12, 2008|publisher=}} If the car is set up to catch car thieves, when the car is stolen officers are immediately alerted, and can monitor the vehicle and send commands to control it such as disabling the engine, locking the doors or honking the horn. Live audio or video streaming devices may be installed allowing law enforcement personnel to determine how many suspects are in the car, what they are planning and if they are armed.{{Cite web|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/thieves+beware+might+find+yourself+candid+camera/1455170/story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517040840/http://www.vancouversun.com/news/thieves+beware+might+find+yourself+candid+camera/1455170/story.html|url-status=dead|title=Car thieves beware: You might find yourself on candid camera|archive-date=May 17, 2009}} If the bait car is set up to catch thieves who steal items from cars, it may be monitored by video from a central location. The bait property, such as a tool kit or gym bag, will also be set up so it can be tracked and monitored.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
Bait cars can be used as part of a honey trap, a form of sting operation, in which criminals not known to the police are lured into exposing themselves. Unlike a sting operation that targets a known or suspected criminal, a honey trap establishes a general lure to attract unknown criminals. Bait cars are not considered entrapment because they merely afford criminals the opportunity to steal the car; entrapment constitutes law enforcement persuading or encouraging a person to commit a crime that they would not have committed otherwise.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
By country
=Australia=
Police in Perth started using bait cars in 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-05/police2c-rac-use-bait-cars-to-catch-car-thieves/6827496|publisher=ABC News|date=5 October 2015|access-date=4 April 2024|first=Graeme|last=Powell|title=WA police using vehicles as bait to catch Perth car thieves in the act}}
=Canada=
The largest bait car fleet in North America, which employs the Minneapolis model, is operated by the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT), based in Surrey, British Columbia. Surrey was designated the "car theft capital of North America" by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2002.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1031407441531_58/|title=Surrey named car theft capital of North America|date=October 16, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031016135028/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1031407441531_58/|archive-date=2003-10-16}} Their bait car program was launched by the Vancouver Police in 2002 and has contributed to a 55% drop in auto theft since then.{{Cite web|url=http://www.baitcar.com/prevention|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407034714/http://www.baitcar.com/prevention|
url-status=dead|title=Auto Crime Statistics & Prevention|archive-date=April 7, 2009}}{{cite web | title=Vancouver police mark bait-car success - CBC News | website=CBC | date=2009-09-30 | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-police-mark-bait-car-success-1.819044 | access-date=2021-12-23}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/vpds-bait-car-program-celebrates-seventh-anniversary-538627591.html|title=VPD's Bait Car program celebrates seventh anniversary|website=www.newswire.ca}}
=New Zealand=
{{as of|2014}}, police in Auckland were "considering" using bait cars.{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-go-undercover-to-catch-car-raiders/A2B5BCL5EY4TSUWNHRASWUT3AA/|work=The New Zealand Herald|first=Anna|last=Leask|date=15 September 2014|access-date=4 April 2024|title=Police go undercover to catch car raiders}}
=United Kingdom=
In 2002, a bait car program was launched in Essex, inspired by the Minneapolis model.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1991585.stm|title=Decoy car to trap thieves|date=May 16, 2002|work=BBC News}}
=United States=
In 2010, the Anti-Vehicle Crime Association of Minnesota presented an award to the Minneapolis Police for its Bait Vehicle Program, which had been running for twelve years at the time.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bsmwireless.com/en/news/minneapolis-police%e2%80%99s-bait-vehicle-program-recognized/ |title=Minneapolis Police's Bait Vehicle Program Recognized |access-date=December 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708102906/http://www.bsmwireless.com/en/news/minneapolis-police%e2%80%99s-bait-vehicle-program-recognized/ |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |url-status=dead }}
In mass media
Bait cars (and the stings they are used in) have been featured in numerous documentary and reality television programs, including COPS, World's Wildest Police Videos, and Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force. They were also the exclusive focus of the TruTV television series Bait Car.{{cite web|url=http://www.trutv.com/video/shows/bait-car.html|title=truTV - Reality TV - Comedy|publisher=|access-date=May 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831055950/http://www.trutv.com/video/shows/bait-car.html|archive-date=August 31, 2009|url-status=dead}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.baitcar.com BaitCar.com] - Official website of IMPACT's bait car program in British Columbia. Includes on-board videos of bait cars being stolen.
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