Bait Vehicle Program Celebrates A Decade of Results
Thursday, March 8, 2012 @ 1:44 PM
Prince George, B.C.- The Bair Car program is now 10 years old in B.C. and it has proven to be successful.
In Prince George, auto theft declined last year by 20.4% with 179 vehicles reported stolen, compared to 225 reported thefts in 2010. As for theft from vehicles, that number has also dropped considerably from 1367 reported thefts in 2010, down 25.7% to 1015 reported thefts in 2011.
In Prince George, the most popular vehicle to be stolen remains the F- series pick up trucks.
Across the province auto theft has been reduced 71% over the past eight years and thefts from vehicles have been reduced 64% over that period.
Cars and trucks were the first ‘bait’ to hit the streets, but over the years the bait fleet has been expanded to include ATV’s, snowmobiles, various watercraft, motorcycles and manufactured trailers.
The Bait fleet has now been expanded even further with the announcement of the addition of commercial vehicles which includes construction equipment and working commercial vans. These latest additions are in response to an ongoing commercial vehicle theft problem.
"Our Bait Car Program is a recognized leader among jurisdictions, and I am very proud of the dramatic decline in auto crime we’ve achieved over the past ten years. We’ve actually caught 77 of the 80 most wanted car thieves in that time," said Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond. "Adding commercial vehicles to the fleet is our latest strategy to keep current with auto crime trends and to protect not just B.C. families’ property but also their livelihood."
Comments
Howabout a penalty list for all these “bait car” thieves? Catching them is the easy part. Letting them go with one day in jail and 18 months probation easier? I bet it is.
What is the cost to us? Cars aren’t exactly cheap. Throw the bait cars away and get on with it. How many bait cars in BC? What happens to them when the police are done with them — the graveyard.
What is the use of going to all the expense of modifying a vehicle to be used as bait, and incurring all the labour, processing and court costs, only to slap the scum thief with a light sentence and early release?
Do they hope to wear the thieves down with repeated arrests, hoping that they will simply stop? You know I applaud anything the authorities can do to reduce auto theft, but without adequate punishment, all we end up with is the old revolving door of justice.
metalman.
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