Remember that show? Well flipping through the channels the other night my remote got stuck on Cops. Ok, I’m not embarrassed to admit that show can sucks me in. I can’t explain it. But what got me this time was a segment on car theft. Millions of cars are stolen and fenced each year in the US. Sounds like an opportunity for technology, right? You bet. So, cops in various places throughout North America have a new weapon - the remote car. Call it a bait car. As the story unfolds, they park this bait car in an area where it will attract a car thief, then watch as the car is stolen. Remote cameras catch all the thief’s movements in the car. Undercover police follow the car and then when they are ready to apprehend, the hit the remote and the bait car shuts down. Thief’s reaction - priceless.

Here is a link to an article about this technology. Also, a link to a Dateline NBC show on a bit more elaborate effort to break into the world of car theft and fencing. Wish I could point you to the episode of Cops. Anyone finds a link, let me know. In the meantime, enjoy the Dateline show.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Stupid Stuff, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.