By Police1 Staff
SAN FRANCISCO - ‘Bait Car’, a truTV show which lures would-be criminals using unlocked cars left running, has come to San Francisco - and unsurprisingly stirred up controversy.
According to a report in SF Weekly, the show’s producers, KKI Productions, have “provided the SFPD with a 2007 Honda Accord loaded with secret video cameras, audio recording equipment, remotely operated door locks, and an ignition kill switch.” When someone gets into the car and drives off, officers hit a remote kill switch to shut down the vehicle and move in to arrest the thief.
The show - which has previously filmed officers from cities such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New Orleans - has upset some within the San Francisco Public Defender’s office.
“A $500 million budget deficit, and this is what they’re doing?” deputy public defender Kwixuan Maloof told SF Weekly. “It’s ridiculous.”
From the truTV website: “A criminal walks past an empty car with its engine running. He looks around, but sees no owner. So he steals the vehicle. Unfortunately for him, the police are watching his every move with a hidden video camera they installed on the dashboard. The officers press a button and shut down the automobile and the thief is led away in handcuffs. He’s been snared with a Bait Car.”
Watch a video from the series below.