CPD Bait Car Program busts thieves
The program places bait cars in high auto theft areas.
Published Aug. 25, 2009
Columbia Police Department's Bait Car Program is helping to reduce car theft in Columbia.
Detective Steve Brown, who is in charge of the program, said when the program started, CPD was seeing an upswing in car theft.
"We were also having a lot of thefts of items from vehicles," Brown said.
On Aug. 9, CPD officers arrested a man for possession of stolen items that had come from one of Columbia's bait cars. According to a CPD news release, the Bait Car Program is a practice the department has chosen to run in high auto theft areas. An unattended car is intentionally left in a high-risk area with valuables inside of the car to draw more attention to it.
"We're not doing anything that's not out in the public already," Brown said. "I will still find unlocked cars with purses, laptops and even keys in the ignition inside."
Columbia's bait cars are modified to activate a hidden video camera when the car door is opened, Brown said. The car also alerts officers in the area.
If the bait car is stolen, the car can be shut off by remote with the suspects inside, Brown said.
Columbia experienced a 36-percent reduction in auto thefts during the first seven months of last year when compared to the same time period in 2007, a CPD news release stated. The release also stated 11 arrests have been made so far as a result of the program.
CPD and the MU Police Department collaborate using the Bait Car Program to enforce the law in town and on campus.
"It's a great resource for the law enforcement in the area," MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer said. "We don't have our own cars but we work closely together with the city of Columbia."
Brown said when the program began, the department talked to its legal parties and made sure they would have no entrapment issues.
"Entrapment is the law enforcement having an active role in forcing criminals into these activities," Brown said.
The Missouri General Assembly lists entrapment under revised statutes as a law enforcement officer or person working with an officer who solicits, encourages or otherwise induces another person to commit a crime.
The news release also stated all the incidents reported in the program have ended in arrests or issued warrants. Brown said deterrence from auto theft is large part of the program.
"As long as people leave valuables in their cars unlocked, thieves will continue to take it," he said.
