Bait cars parked on transit lots

Bait cars are on Calgary Transit's park-and-ride lots, a move aimed at curbing auto theft, announced police.

Police publicized the program on Tuesday, but won't say how many bait vehicles are awaiting thieves in transit's 36 lots.

"We've always had our bait vehicles parked here," said Staff Sgt. Colin Adair. "It's the awareness. We are getting the message out that the cars are here. It's sending the message to those potential thieves that if you steal one, you are going to get caught."

Bait cars havehelped reduce vehicle crimes in Calgary since the program was introduced in November 2008, Adair said.Last year 4,318 vehicles were stolen, compared to more than 6,034 in 2008.

Commuters started paying $3 a day in 2009 to use the previously free park-and-ride spots near C-Train stations and major bus stops. The new revenue was supposed to go to transit, partly to improve security and maintenance on the park-and-ride lots.

The bait cars are left in parking lots, side streets or private driveways. In some cases, the doors are locked. Other cars are left with the keys in the ignition. Some are even left running.

Once a thief takes off with the vehicle, it's tracked by officers, who can shut it off by remote control when they are in position to make an arrest.

Last year, the CBC Newsfiled a Freedom of Information request to find out how many vehicles are in the fleet of bait cars, how often they're deployed and how many arrests have been made as a result. The request was denied by the police department.