More than once I’ve actually thought about leaving the doors to my home unlocked or a window open and simply sitting in a comfy chair waiting for someone sensing an easy target to come in. You see, I live in a changing, revitalizing, gentrifying neighborhood that isn’t quite “there” yet. Neighbors on each side of me have had their homes broken into within the past year. I’ve dreamt of how I would flick on a light and revel in the look on the person’s face. Of course it probably wouldn’t work that way for me, but police in suburban St. Louis are set to do something very similar.
The Crime Beat blog over the Post-Dispatch says that St. Louis County Police are seeking permission to use rent vacant homes for short periods of time, set up lucrative items such as flat screen televisions and then wait. Of course homes would also be fitted with surveillance cameras and motion detectors while individual items would have GPS tracking devices installed.
St. Louis County Police have used bait cars in the past to apprehend car thieves with some success. The bait homes would tackle home burglary and be set up in “high crime” areas. My guess that this the City of St. Louis could successfully employ the same idea. In fact, there are several empty homes in my area that would work quite well!
Don’t know what a bait car is? Check it out:
