Car thieves -- beware

[superconnected]

Source: KOMO TV news

AUBURN, Wash. -- A new million dollar grant fuels the continued crackdown on car thieves in southern King and northern Pierce counties.

For one, new infrared cameras are sweeping license plate numbers searching for stolen cars, and two new bait cars that trap thieves inside will be hitting the streets soon.

And now police will also go after evidence left behind, but often overlooked before.

"We intend to process every car that is recovered to get fingerprints from the offender," said Auburn Police Chief James Kelly.

Read more: http://www.komonews.com/news/26124449.html

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This is really really good news to me. My car got stolen from a park n ride a few years ago while I was at work, I've never taken the commuter bus since. My moms car got stolen from our apt parking space. At the time I was mad because the police really appeared to do nothing. Both cars were recovered trashed btw.

[sofa king]

1. You mean they DON'T fingerprint recovered cars already?

Jeez! I recall reading that auto theft has the highest recidivism rates of any major crime--above that of drug addicts and habitual sex offenders. (That, however, was before meth came to town, so it might not be true today.)

That means that if a car gets stolen, chances are good it has been stolen by someone who either steals cars regularly or is about to start stealing them regularly. I guess I know why now.

[superconnected]

4. No they don't finger print them in my state. The last time I saw news coverage

on this - about a year ago, the average was 10 cars stolen before the thieves spent a total of 2 weeks in jail. The judge wouldn't give them more because our jails and prisons are full.

In 2003 with the bush cuts of federal aid to states I saw the effect personally as I was working at the city of seattle in Courts and the jail (server admin) and I read the letter to the judges telling them not to send anyone but violent offenders and sex offenders to jail as the city could not afford it. Hence I sat in court waiting to work on their systems watching thief after thief get a warning by the judge and then let go. I watched that for about a year before I went to microsoft. How do you think the cops feel to watch the shoplifters and car theives they catch instantly turned loose? That's the way it's been up to now and that's why the crime rate is so big in the seattle/tacoma area. Offenders don't go to jail longer than to see the judge and be set free.

The violent and sex offenders ended up being sent to yakima (across the state) because the jail is cheaper there. I set up the video visitation system for their relatives to visit them over webcam since the inmates were too far away for most of their relatives to drive. Their familys were poor so they couldn't make it several hundred miles without being a big tax on them.

[urgk]

2. Sooo.....

They're using mounted cameras to identify vehicles, and that's a GOOD thing?

I'm all for some kind of crime prevention program (and I love the bait car idea), but increasing
the capability of police officers to know where you are at any given point seems a little, I don't know, creepy.

[bean fidhleir]

3. My car was half-stolen (they got interrupted) from our apt-hse pkg lot

It was one of a rash of thefts and near-thefts. The cop who came told me that once thieves know a parking lot is vulnerable, they'll return again and again. Sure as hell, a few months later they succeeded in stealing my car, cutting the steering wheel to remove the bar.

Now I have a non-removeable bar on the steering wheel (they could cut the wheel into small pieces and still not be able to remove the bar) and a clamp on the clutch pedal to make the car non-startable (the clutch must be depressed) and non-shiftable. If they want the car now, they'll have to pick it up and carry it away.