Wireless, GPS-Loaded 'Bait Car' Traps Thieves

captainClassLoader writes: "The Washington Post is reporting that a late-model car, loaded with wireless surveillance gear, a remote kill switch and GPS, is being left (unlocked, presumably) on the streets of the Washington, D.C. metro area as 'bait' for car thieves. This article reports that they've just made their first bust with the vehicle."

I wonder....

[the_radix]

Who pays the parking tickets on these?

GPS: "Help! I'm being towed!"

Awesome!

[Gorimek]

Now I'm only waiting for the bicycle version. I lose at least one bike a year in the mean streets and garages of San Francisco.

Out of Curiosity

[blankmange]

Would there be an entrapment angle to this? Taking a normal, older model and adding electronics to it to make it more appealing and therefore enticing the thieves to steal.... I really am kidding....

Re:Wait a minute...

[cheese_wallet]

There is a difference between finding a watch on the street and finding a car on the street.

"Holy cow, look at all the cars people lost in this parking lot!"

--Scott

Hello, my name is K.I.T.T.!

[Zenjive]

...and I am driving you to the nearest police station where you will be handed over to the authorities. Thank you and have a nice day!

Scary!

[Dr Caleb]

"The car called us -- 'I'm being stolen,'...

Cars can't talk.

Why don't they 'salt' a few 1982 Lotus Turbo Esprits? Don't those blow up when you break into them?

Increasing the 'catch rate'

[Anonymous Coward]

Why don't they put a buxom blonde in the car to increase the steal metrics?

Re:This is cool but...

[nomadic]

I can see it now; the car locks itself, then starts driving around in circles while the radio plays a continuous loop of N'Sync at 100 decibels.

Re:Fishing for dumbass...

[Oliver Defacszio]

"... within a few years"

Whoops! You misspelled "hours" in your comment.

Re:Good use of technology

[Foggy Tristan]

Well, it's a low probability, but not 0.

Scenario: Thief picks up car, likes car. Picks up hitchhiker. Gets out at 7-11. Says wait here. Police bust car and Hitchhiker. Thief sees bust, coolly walks away from 7-11 slurping Bruisin Berry Big Gulp.

Obvious solution: Ban Bruisin Berry Big Gulps

"Wireless"?

[Unknown Bovine Group]

Do they really need to say "Wireless"?

Was there a (not-so-successful) previous attempt at this, but with wires coming out of it?

Re:footing the bill

[ffoiii]

Why isn't that "someone" you?

Re:Death Wish

[AikenDrumGotWired]

Uh-huh, yeah. Since when did watching "Clerks" become research for a post?

Re:Bike Theives Must Die!!!

[wiredog]

Do they leave the frames up on cinder blocks?

Re:Good use of technology

[Verteiron]

"It was NOT my client's fault! He suffers from a well-known disorder called Chronic Automotive Kleptomania."

N'Sync?

[wiredog]

driving around in circles while the radio plays a continuous loop of N'Sync at 100 decibels.

I think that'd violate the Constitutional restrictions on cruel and unusual punishments.

IANAL

[Microsift]

But I play one on TV... It seems like the reason this would not be entrapment is that the police aren't doing anything that a normal citizen wouldn't do.

Normal people don't pay for sex, so if a cop offers a prostitute money for sex, that's entrapment.

Normal people do leave their car's in places where the car can be stolen, the fact that the police can track this particular car just improves the chances of the police catching the criminal.

Put another way, if you had a phat car and left the doors unlocked, keys in, engine running with a wad of benji's hanging out of the glove compartment, and I stole your car, I would not have an entrapment defense.

Re:Out of Curiosity

[kaimiike1970]

On a lighter note, congratulations on being on TV!

Re:Bike Theives Must Die!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

About 20 years ago I saw the aftermath of a cop shooting a bike thief. The youngblood tried to pedal away but the man in blue wasted him with a very large bullet. This was near the corner of 21st and L in NW DC near the old Safeway. Blood and internal organs were splattered all over the sidewalk. It was the last thing that boy ever stole. The movies don't get the gore right. After you've seen the real thing, the glisten and shiny deep purple/maroon hue of internal body parts will stick in your mind forever.

Can't say that I had any sympathy for the young punk. Justice was served on the street. Then again, Charles Bronson in Death Wish is one of my all time favorite flicks.

Re:IANAL

[coyote-san]

There are actually two different types of entrapment.

If an undercover cop tells you to do something or he'll blow your head off it's an absolute form of entrapment. This situation is rare, but not unheard of.

But if an undercover cop makes you an offer too good to refuse it's a much more grey area. Many normally law-abiding citizens may be tempted by these offers, and there have been some high profile cases thrown out because the cours ruled that a reasonable person would not be able to resist the bait. E.g., I seem to recall that John DeLorean was acquitted because of this - the pressure to save his company was so great that no reasonable person could avoid the quick money for moving a relatively small amount of drugs.

It's hard to imagine a situation where car theft is irresistable, but it's much harder to make blanket statements about victimless crimes.

Re:"Wireless"?

[thrillbert]

Yes, actually there was, but it was not the wires running to a wodden shed nearby that detered the theives, it was the AS/400 with the satelite dish mounted in the trunk that looked suspicious to most.

Although some were caught contemplating it by the television crew parked next to the car, no one seemed to raise the courage to attempt stealing the car.

Of course, it could have just been stage frieght...

---
Swiss Cheese - The ultimate paradox.
The more cheese, the more holes. The more holes, the less cheese.
Therefore, the more cheese, the less cheese.

Not in Hollywood....

[mblase]

It catches car thieves, but only car thieves. This is one of the few uses of technology that has zero probability of catching "the wrong guy".

I'm now waiting for the first action movie out of Hollywood that features a tough, no-nails cop breaking into an available car to chase an escaping murder suspect, only to be stopped in traffic two minutes later by a different part of the department.

Re:I wonder....

[CaptainStormfield]

How useful is this feature? Is it really that helpful to know that your car is being stolen -- after someone has already managed (presumably) to drive away with it? Imagine the conversation with the Mercedes customer service operator:

Mercedes: Hello sir, I am calling to let you know that a few minutes ago, your car was stolen. It is possible that it was towed, but given the neighborhood where you parked it . . .

Me: Crap. You mean that someone is breaking into my car?

Mercedes: No. Our system doesn't trigger an alert until your car is actually in motion. Someone has already broken into your car. Now they are driving away with it.

Me: Crap.

Mercedes: Have a nice day. In the event that you don't recover your car, you might consider our all new 2002 Mercedes models.

Re:Fishing for dumbass...

[phreaklegion]

What they need is some sort of X-Ray machine concealed in the drivers seat, that bombards the thief's genitals with radiation...

...thereby cutting down on FUTURE dumbasses as well.

Re:Bike Theives Must Die!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

blibbleblobble writes:

here at the University of Nottingham ... bike-racks removed with pipe-cutters.

Have you reported this to the Sheriff? Where's Robin Hood when you need him ...

Automotive Honeypot

[SchmittHouse]

My friend told me about a similar car (a Honda Accord) owned by the Ventura County Sheriff that would stall, lock all the doors, roll up the windows and call the police a few blocks from whereever it was stolen.

In most Southern California towns it lasted about two hours before someone came by and drove off.

In his town, after two weeks of sitting at the side of the road, unlocked, with the keys in the ignition, it still hadn't been stolen. OTOH, this was in Simi Valley, a town (and I am not making this up) that has a Denny's that closes. Every night.

My friend took this as an omen and a few months later decided to move.

Hacker's Challenge

[A.Soze]

I want to see a web site with a rendered map of the city. Then, I want to see a red pulsing dot that is the stolen car. Then blue dots representing the police, chasing said car. Maybe, as the police get closer, it could speed up the music that plays too. Perhaps a selection from the "Looney Tunes" library would be apropos... This could revolutionize the media coverage of high speed chases! Imagine the revenue possibilities in L.A. alone!

(Oh, wait... Did I just offend the /. community by mentioning "revenue"? ;) )

Re:I wonder....

[Anonymous Coward]

"I had an SLK320 (Read my journal to find out what happened, if you feel so inclined) that had this feature. It basically made it have to get lifted up to be towed or moved, which was just a cool feature for the sheer "Yeah try to tow my car" value."

Around here they just throw a trolly-type device under the wheels that aren't lifted up. That way your wheels are not turning when being towed, and it doesn't matter if they're locked.

"There are very very very good reasons as to why civics and camry's are so widely stolen. They are easy to chop, high resale on parts because everyone has one of the cars just about. Mercedes/Ferrari/BMW/etc are not high-theft-risk cars. They say you should get LoJack so they get money, go read the reports.. you'll never see Mercedes on the top 10."

Well of course Mercedes is not on the top 10, look at the percentage of Mercedes on the road compared to cars like the Camry. The Camrys probably outnumber the Mercedes 50:1 (unless you live in some hoitty-toitty neighbourhood).

This really burns me up when going to pay for insurance. I ask why the rate is so high and they give me this "Well, it's a high theft risk" line of crap. No shit, Sherlock, this model probably accounts for 60% of the cars on the road. Statistically speaking, it's got a higher chance of being stolen! That doesn't mean MY car has a higher chance of being stolen though.

Re:I wonder....

[elemental23]

Where am I? Where's my car? Can you tell me how to get to the nearest dealer ...

It sounds like a dealer is about the last thing you need. You've probably spent too much money at one already, if you can't find your car or yourself.

"Hi, I'm in south central LA. Can you direct me to the nearest crack house?"