Putting a Brake on Car Thefts - NYPD Encourages Use of Tracking Devices in Cars

M.C. Millman

The NYPD announced a new initiative encouraging New Yorkers to hide tracking devices in their cars, as doing so will assist the police department in locating missing vehicles. 

Tracking devices can be hidden in a car, so if the vehicle is stolen,  the owner will be notified and can track its location through an app in real-time with police officers ready to assist as needed.

The Association for a Better New York helped kick off the enterprise by donating 500 Apple AirTags to the City so future victims could track their vehicles alongside the police in the case of a theft.

The NYPD plans to distribute the donated tracking devices to drivers of the vehicles targeted most often for thefts, such as Hyundais and Kias, as reported by BoroPark24 here.  

Whereas there used to be an average of 10-12 Hyundais and Kias stolen monthly, the number skyrocketed to about 100 by December. There have been nearly 4,500 car thefts in New York City since January, a thirteen percent increase over the same period last year.  

A plan for equitable distribution of the 500 AirTags is presently being worked out with a focus on the locations with more car thefts. According to the mayor's office, the City also plans to fundraise to buy more tracking devices for other distributions.

photo credit: Flickr