- Police in Arvada, Colorado are handing out tracking devices to citizens to combat auto theft.
- Apple Airtags and Tile Bluetooth Trackers are given for free to residents meeting specific criteria.
- The city hopes that the trackers, along with decals, will help deter thefts and reduce crime.
Car thieves will use all sorts of measures to grab what they want. From old-school lock picks to high-tech hacks, they’ve made an art form out of taking what isn’t theirs. To combat those various tactics, police and citizens have to be innovative too. Now, one Colorado suburb is handing out GPS tracking devices to people for free. The city hopes that these gadgets will reduce auto theft in the area.
Specifically, Arvada police is distributing Apple AirTags and Tile Bluetooth Trackers to qualifying residents and workers. To obtain these trackers, people have to live or work in Arvada, have recently been the victim of auto theft, or own one of the top 10 most stolen vehicles according to CATPA (Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority).
More: Thieves Allegedly Using Trackers On Cars To Help Them Rob Multi-Million Dollar Homes
The top 10 list includes three Kias, three Hyundais, two Fords, one Chevrolet, and one Honda. Those who pick up a tracker also get a decal for their window that plainly tells would-be thieves that the car has a GPS tracker inside. What makes these trackers so useful is that they’re easy to hide and, at the same time, hard to find for anyone who doesn’t know their exact location.
Owners will also have the ability to link the devices to their smartphones and then track them at will. Notably, police won’t have any access to the devices unless granted after a theft by the car’s owner. Interestingly, some phones will pick up on the fact that they’re near a tracker like this even if it isn’t registered to the phone owner.
The Double-Edged Sword of GPS Trackers
While GPS trackers like AirTags have proven useful for theft prevention, they’ve also drawn criticism in recent years for being misused. Both Apple and Google faced backlash over incidents where these devices were exploited to stalk individuals or track cars for later theft. To address such concerns, Apple and Google implemented software features that alert non-owners when a tracker is nearby, a small but meaningful safeguard against misuse.
Also, the notifications usually only alert a person to the fact that a tracker is “nearby” and not necessarily where exactly it is.
As for Arvada’s initiative, the city says it has already handed out roughly half of its available devices. If you’re in the area and missed out, don’t worry, as registration for a second round of giveaways opens on March 14, with the trackers being distributed on April 12.
For a city trying to outwit car thieves, this is one clever step forward. Whether it puts a dent in crime remains to be seen, but at least Arvada residents can sleep a little easier knowing they have some extra tech on their side.
Credit: CBS Colorado
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