Baited Cars
Catching Thieves Red Handed
By Daniel Muniz

Perhaps the most amusing development in police sting operations are the programs designed to catch car thieves red handed on videotape. The way these programs work is that an unassuming vehicle is casually parked in a high crime area. However, the vehicle is really a specially modified “bait car” equipped with silent alarms, hidden cameras, and remotely activated kill switches and locks.

To make this bait car appear especially appealing to hoodlums, the doors are unlocked, the keys are left in the ignition, and sometimes a briefcase is openly placed in the back seat. A passing hood notices the unlocked car and senses an opportunity for a quick effortless theft. He hops inside the car and drives off thinking that he has made an easy score from an unsuspecting victim.

However, it doesn’t take long for the thief to realize that something has gone terribly wrong.

Once the bait car is driven off, dispatchers are alerted by a silent alarm. They immediately inform nearby patrol cars that the baited vehicle has been stolen. In the meantime, the car engine is remotely turned off which brings the car to a rolling stop. Simultaneously, the car doors and windows are locked which prevents the thief from exiting.

It is hilarious to watch video footage of bewildered thugs caught red handed.

They frantically try to restart the engine but to no avail because the remotely triggered kill switch prevents the car from turning on again. Even hotwiring the car won’t work either. Then all of a sudden, bewilderment turns to panic when the hoodlum realizes that he is also trapped in a prison of his own making when the doors and windows won’t open. And finally, some thugs then take on a grim gloomy appearance when they determine that their vehicular jail is going to turn into a prison cell.

A few enraged thieves do manage to smash the glass of the car door window with their feet in a desperate attempt to escape but they are often immediately collared by the police who are already racing to the baited car.

But what makes this sting operation unique is that this brazen crime is caught on tape which is the perfect evidence to show to a jury. As a result, an overwhelming majority of these criminals immediately plead guilty because they know that a picture can say a thousand words. And the videotape doesn’t provide any sort of wiggle room since the images of the crime are often blatant enough to make the conviction all by itself.

In the past, hoodlums counted on their lawyers doing everything possible to expand reasonable doubt even when other solid evidence was presented. I vividly remember talking to a police officer that was collecting evidence at the scene of a burglary who explained to me that a jury will believe just about anything regardless of how outrageous the story is. Thugs and their lawyers typically try to take full advantage of the public’s gullibility by inventing fanciful tales of how they are not guilty even when indisputable proof is present.

Unfortunately, I have a number of colleagues and acquaintances who experienced that problem. One former co-worker explained to me that after her stolen car was recovered and the thieves were arrested, there was a difficult time getting the charges to stick because the hoodlums simply asserted that they never stole the car. They adamantly argued that the owner actually loaned it out to them. In other words, it became a “he said, she said” type of argument even though there was a shattered car window and a hotwired ignition.

My former co-worker was told that it was very possible that a single sympathetic juror may actually believe such a cockamamie story because the car thieves were illegal aliens and destitute. In fact, their defense lawyers were trying to portray the car thieves as victims.

Overall, seasoned criminals and their crafty defense attorneys are quite adept at muddying an open and shut case.

However, the videotape from these sting operations takes that all away. There will always be a few people in a jury who may find a good story entertaining and believable but the actual video footage takes away that reasonable doubt. The hidden cameras capture exactly what happens without the drama and the fluff of a fanciful tale.

Consequently, increasing numbers of municipalities are now using baited cars. And the results show a drop in car thefts.

And it is a win-win situation for law enforcement. These sting operations require fewer people to maintain them since they are operated remotely. And the iron-clad evidence of the video footage brings a speedy conclusion to these crimes instead of a courtroom drama.

Of course some of the more seasoned thugs won’t be thwarted. They are already on to these sting operations thus they won’t be ensnared by such easy targets. And that is fine because at least catching the losers and dimwitted hoodlums still makes a big dent into crime.

But most importantly, the success of these programs vividly demonstrate that law enforcement agencies around the country need to be innovative and creative when it comes to reducing crime and putting criminals in jail. These novel ideas do work and they have been successful in fighting crime. And perhaps more municipalities will be encouraged to use more of these sting operations.

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