Talk:Bait car

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Theft from vehicle[edit]

Updated the article to include bait cars which are immobilized to catch people who attempt thefts from vehicle. Conscientia (talk) 02:05, 19 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]


1st paragraph, 3rd line, it says the doors are locked "from the inside". They would be locked from the outside in this situation. Locking from the inside would be the normal way a car door locks. 72.130.241.142 (talk) 06:47, 23 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Edited the article to remove this inside/outside ambiguity.Conscientia (talk) 02:05, 19 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not very good at this "wiki" stuff, but there is a great story on bait cars that could be included on this page:

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005011618

Text copied below:

Police Lose "Bait Car" When GPS Fails To Work

September 28, 2006 5:00 p.m. EST

Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer Dallas, TX (AHN) - Police in Texas have lost a car intended to catch thieves. Known as a "bait car," police install special equipment in a vehicle and leave it around for a thief to steal. However, Dallas police say the GPS location unit failed, and now the car's gone without a trace. Lt. Rick Watson of the Dallas Police Department tells the Associated Press, "The GPS system tells us where they are at and how fast they are going." "We want the car stolen. Yes, we do. But, then we want it recovered with the individual that stole it." Also, police don't want to give away any info on the car, as doing so would make it almost impossible to use again if its recovered. "Really what we are hoping for right now is the individual that took it - doesn't realize what he has," said Watson.

Merge[edit]

I just noticed that there's also a Decoy car article. Any reason why these shouldn't be merged? Bobanny 16:41, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I merged Decoy car into this article.Bobanny 04:10, 11 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki on BaitCar.com[edit]

hmm... I notice that baitcar.com quotes this article on their main page. Isn't it us who should be quoting them as a source? Bobanny 17:32, 11 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Loads of things quote wikipedia, all the answers.com articles for a start. William Nolde was quoted by someone in something in some magazine or something I can't remember now, but it was :P SGGH 22:01, 5 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dubious[edit]

The practice does not violate entrapment laws, since suspects are not persuaded to steal the vehicle by any means other than its availability and their own motivation

A mere absence of incitement does not make bait car legal; some jurisdictions have more strict laws regarding entrapment (see entrapment article for more details). GregorB (talk) 20:02, 25 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I disagree; there's no entrapment involved with a bait car. Can you cite authority from any jurisdiction saying otherwise? Defense attorneys who have claimed it to be entrapment have lost, because it is not entrapment. Entrapment requires that the defendant be induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; there is no interaction with the defendant with a bait car; the defendant has prior intent to steal a car, and does so, with no encouragement from anyone. The note should be removed from the article.LanternLight (talk) 01:49, 22 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
They failed, in that jurisdiction. 75.70.90.36 (talk) 11:14, 25 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

There's no entrapment, so long as the police don't interact with the suspects. Once they do, it's a bit more muddled. This couple had just such an experience, and the prosecutor's seemed eager to make a deal rather than go to trial on those facts. http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/26/0726baitcar.html 68.36.78.161 (talk) 08:09, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No one tried to steal the car there; there's no entrapment issue. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.134.27.182 (talk) 03:27, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The couple didn't steal the car, but they were still charged.
From the article: "Sixteen days later, on Ward's birthday, the police came to the house with an affidavit and arrested them on a charge of burglary of a vehicle, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and up to a $4,000 fine."
The entrapment issue isn't so easily dismissed where police 1) leave a bait car on a residential street; 2) mislead a resident who calls with concerns about an abandoned vehicle (the bait car) on their street; 3) subsequently charge the residents with a crime after they open the car in an effort to gather information on the owner. These kind of secret morality tests may snare some genuine criminals, but also promote distrust between citizens and police, and citizens and each other. How would you react to an unknown car abandoned on your street? Do you pick up that wallet or purse in an attempt to find its proper owner, or walk on by in case it's actually bait in a police operation? This kind of distrust encourages people to look the other way in otherwise everyday situations where they could help each other out. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.116.163.127 (talk) 07:33, 24 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Other good story[edit]

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/26/0726baitcar.html

Here is a relevant story about a homeowner who reports an abandoned vehicle to the police in Texas. When the police don't move the car and it remains parked for several more days, he tries to figure out who it belongs to and is arrested for theft. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.101.155.54 (talk) 01:36, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Entrapment?[edit]

I am surprised that the word "entrapment" doesn't even appear in this article. I think it would be very relevant to the article to include a section saying whether or not the use of a bait car is considered entrapment. It would also be helpful to include cases which decided if, when, and where the use of a bait car is considered entrapment or illegal in any way and in any jurisdictions within the United States and around the world. I feel very confident that many individuals have Googled "Bait Car" after seeing the television series on TruTV and wondered about the legality/constitutionality of this law enforcement tactic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thelostrealist513 (talk • contribs) 04:11, 22 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No, as entrapment must meet one of the following requirements: 

   -The idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.
   -Government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving someone the opportunity to commit a crime is not the same as persuading them to commit that crime.
  - The person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before interaction with the government agents.

It does not apply to a bait car.

17:55, 28 May 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.231.223.202 (talk)

Wikpedia goes by verifiablity not truth. The police department's official position says it's not entrapment so case closed as far as wikipedia is concerned — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.207.135.183 (talk) 03:25, 21 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Uncited information[edit]

Hello, the wikipedia page currently uses a citation (no. 6, ^ IMPACT Autotheft Prevention. , http://www.baitcar.com/prevention) to support an alarming statistic that auto theft in British Columbia has reduced 55% since the introduction of the Bait Car program. The citation however is from "BaitCar.com" which has a very obvious interest in promoting the police action in the most positive light.

BaitCar.com however fails to cite the statistic or in any way illustrate how it was determined. This is most certainly not credible enough to act as the sole source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.119.128.65 (talk) 18:57, 20 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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