With a month to go until Christmas, Saskatoon police have already been busy leaving out gifts for the city’s car thieves.
The catch? Unwrapping these presents will land you in jail.
On Monday, police reported the results from a new program they’ve been running since August.
Officers have been planting bait cars in high-theft parts of the city. The vehicles are fitted with silent alarms and video recorders triggered when someone opens the doors. Once the alarm is tripped, a video feed goes directly to police, who send officers to the scene.
SGI Salvage provides the vehicles to police at a cost of $1 – the only additional fee is for licence plates – and then the team gets to work.
Over the last three months, 13 people have been charged as a result of the pilot project, which saw the bait car alarms triggered 11 times.
The 13 people arrested are facing a variety of charges including: Attempted theft of a motor vehicle, mischief, possession of stolen property, carry concealed weapon, obstruction, break of probation and breach of undertaking.