Police to trap car thieves for Winter Olympics

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-29 15:25

VANCOUVER: "Steal one and you will go to jail." That is the message from British Columbia (BC) authorities to car thieves looking to profit from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

With auto theft currently at a six-year low in the Canadian province and the Games spectators being encouraged to leave their cars behind and take public transport to the events, Solicitor General Kash Heed has announced BC would be stepping up its long-running bait vehicle program to snare thieves and ensure safe Games.

As an estimated 250,000 people are expected to use public transit each day during the Winter Games beginning on February 12, police will be planting late model bait cars in 22 park-and-ride locations and other key Olympic departure hubs.

The vehicles may prove irresistible to thieves as they will contain such items as cameras and laptop computer marked with Microdot technology. Heed said the new technology would enable police to easily identify the stolen items and provide indisputable evidence in court.

"This year, BC's auto crime enforcement month coincides with the largest influx of visitors our province has ever seen," said Heed in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb. "Strategic deployment of bait cars, which has cut auto crime by more than half since 2003, will provide drivers with greater peace of mind when they leave their vehicles for the day."

Under the theme of "Securing the Best Winter Games Ever -- Making Auto Crime a Priority," other key components of the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team's (IMPACT) Olympic strategy include ongoing auto crime monitoring and deploying undercover vehicles equipped with automatic license plate recognition technology. The technology can scan up to 600 license plates an hour to locate stolen vehicles.

The team also makes use of helicopters and dogs to apprehend thieves who attempt to flee.

According to the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, the provincial auto insurer, vehicle thefts dropped 15 percent last year from about 13,000 in 2008. There were also about 4,000 fewer thefts from vehicles in 2009, a 15-percent decrease from the 23,000 reported a year earlier.

Since 2003, auto crimes in the province dropped by more than half. The 11,000 car thefts last year were a 55 percent drop from the 26,000 vehicles stolen in 2003. In the same period, vehicle break-ins dropped from about 40,000 to 19,000.

"These latest reductions in auto theft are great news for our customers, as fewer claims help keep insurance rates low and stable," said Nicolas Jimenez, ICBC's road safety director. "Car owners can do their part to help keep these numbers falling by ensuring they leave their valuables out of sight, and doors locked, when they leave their vehicle."

The Winter Olympics is scheduled for February 12-28 in Vancouver.