TruTV's "BaitCar"

reply to post by daniel5383


It's like a cop putting a whole dish of weed, coke, crack (whatever your fix is) in the middle of some poor metro neighborhood, wait for the addicts to walk up, use the drugs, and then arrest them....

Originally posted by piett
If I leave my wallet on the sidewalk in an heavily patrolling police zone with a 100$ note slipping our of it ... A cop passes by and pick it up. Should I now sue the cop for theft ?

What a great idea.

We can call it "baitcop".

We would see just how many "honest" policemen and women there really are.

Anyone want to fund the project?

reply to post by ObservingTheWorld


A bit hyperbolic. I am merely stating that the 'criminal' may not have ever committed grand theft auto had the opportunity not presented itself. so conveniently.

It doesn't bother you that this is occuring in poor neighborhoods?

Again, this is the dictionary definition of the term 'entrapment.'

Agreed that this show is messed up. I've always thought how can they have a crime when there is no victim? It seems the true suspect here is Time.

reply to post by daniel5383


It's mainly used to catch car thieves, I can't remember where the "bait car" takes place but I know they have alot of auto theft there, that's why they do it. But I do agree with you, I think its wrong..its seriously like framing somebody.

Oh yeah forgot to mention, cops also use "bait prostitutes" how messed up is that?

reply to post by daniel5383


I wanted to add... I've seen alot of these shows because my friend enjoys things like that but I've seen plenty of episodes where just a civilian see's the car running and tries to be nice and parks the car turns it off, then they cant get out because the cops control it. They usually let the people who park the car go free, someone who takes off with it grand theft auto have fun in prison.

reply to post by daniel5383


I'm all for the show. These lame brains need to be taken off the streets and put in jail. How'd you like it to be your car rummaged though or stolen within 5 mins of being left somewhere. The people being arrested in this show are low life's and deserve worse then they'll get imo.

reply to post by piett

And there is a big difference between a wallet and a vehicle. And if it was against the law to pick up a wallet off of the ground, and everyone knows it, would it be wrong to prosecute someone for breaking the law? That is what these people are doing, they are breaking the law, in an area, where they do such already. The only difference is that the police are providing them with oportunity, to do such. They have a choice, and that is either to ignore such, or to take the bait. Who is in the wrong, the police for setting a trap, or the person who is going to do such?

All you tough guys who think all these people are thugs and criminals are very short sighted.

Do you even have any idea how multigenerational poverty affects people?

Role models who are employed are nonexistant, or at least very few and far between. Your middle class idea of 'moral' is not theirs.

This is why this is soo very cruel, and illegal, by the way.

Anyone who sleeps hungry for 3 nights in a row will do desperate things to not make it four.

You have no right to judge, and the police have no right to make that temptation possible, for a television show or otherwise.

It's disgusting.

Take a look at the two loosers in the video. If they didn't steel this car, im sure they would have commited another crime that same day.

I f#@$ing hate theives!

I am a law and order kind of guy but I can not help but think that if all the cops who are fake pimps, fake hookers, fake drug dealers, fake druggies, fake homelss, and fake bilkers, Mafia, Gang Members, were to get together in uniform and patrol school zones, parks, Mall parking lots, and our neighborhoods late at night a few more Americans, and their kids would be a little safer.

reply to post by jimnuggits

Anyone who sleeps hungry for 3 nights in a row will do desperate things to not make it four.

I think this has nothing to do with being hungry or being in a position of poverty. These nob jockeys just want another hit of ice or crack.
they are not sitting in that car saying "Thank god, now we can eat tonight" they are laughing and proud they have just stolen some ones car.

Now if this was a real persons car, did you consider the owner also might be doing it tough? and half the time loosers that steel cars will just take the stereo and set fire to the car.

Sorry I have no sympathy for theives.

reply to post by daniel5383


Idiots exist. The cops role is to get rid of them before they screw someone over.


I suppose you could call it precrime. But a crime is a crime.



Besides. We never really know how true these things are.

reply to post by daniel5383


I think the point you are trying to make is underserved by saying:

I know there will be people that will say well they shouldnt take the vehicle and it gets rid of criminals and what not, but when you put an escalade with cartons of newports and stuff in a poverty stricken neighborhood unattended, of course someone is gonna steal it...TIMES ARE HARD!

Don't speculate responses in the other person. Hypothetical arguments are ok, but you won't "win" the debate with overreaching strawmen. What I mean is that saying "an escalade with cartons of newports" is both suggestive racially and unsupported by what can be seen in the show. There are small items left in the car to make it look "lived in", but there is really no other prize than the car itself.

That being said, I agree. The premise of entrapment is ridiculous. You're lumping down-on-their-luck opportunists in with hardened criminals. Not to say the hardened criminals are anything other than a well practiced opportunist, but you're just creating more avenues than may be naturally available on a given day, at a given hour to the passer-by who may or may not want to get something out of it.

If what I just said isn't clear, an analogy.

Joe is hard on luck. He hasn't had a lot of jobs and grew up in a poor neighborhood. He's gotten into a little trouble here and there, but nothing more extreme than the average teenager.

Mary has a job, but lives in the same poor neighborhood. Life was tough growing up for her too, but she just got promoted and finally got enough money saved as a down payment on a sporty, new Honda. She's worried about people breaking into her car and she's always careful never to leave her purse in the car. She's used to the neighborhood and other people she knows have had their cars broken into.

Mary parks her car at the local shopping plaza parking lot to run into the grocery store, locking it as always. Joe happens by and passes Mary's car without thinking one thing about it.

A week later, in the same plaza, undercover officer Maria parks a nice new car in the same parking lot, making a ruckus as she gets out, talking loudly on the cell phone and in feigned forgetfulness leaves her keys on the seat and her door open.

Just as most people would see a cars dome light on in a parking lot, or a trunk open, a door being open is bound to draw curiosity seekers and good samaritans alike.

Joe happens by again, as this is the route from his house to the bus stop. He notices Maria's little show and sees the door open as she runs off. He's tired and needs money. He hasn't had a job in a long time. Maybe there's a five dollar bill in the glove compartment, he thinks, at least a few bucks. She's got a nice car, she won't miss it, since she doesn't even seem "with it" enough to even close her door.

As he comes to the door, he sees the keys lying on the seat. What to do? He knows the neighborhood, if he leaves it like this, someone else might take it. What about him? He knows his situation and how hard it has been to find a job near home, struggling to get to possible jobs far away from where he lives. Maybe he could get money for it? Maybe? But where? That one guy's cousin, the guy who's friends with his sister. That guy's cousin supposedly has taken his share of cars. Maybe he can get in touch and cut a deal.

Joe hops in the car, if anything, thinking how he might just get a free ride. Barely ever get to drive a car. He starts the ignition, pulls out of the parking lot, heads down the street. He's paranoid, butterflies in his stomach because he knows what he's done. Maybe no one will find out. But, he thinks, it's best if he gets far away before that girl notices her car is gone and the police send out the call.

Before he can even decide what he wants to do with the car, Joe realizes it's stopped. He tries the doors, but they're locked. He sees the blue and red lights in the rearview. It's over.

Our character Joe represents a random person living in the ghetto. The inner cities are tough, but not everyone resorts to crime. Believe it or not - but despite what you may think from Judge Judy and the nightly news - most people who live in the poorer areas of our major cities are keenly aware of their situation and also keenly aware of the punishment received for breaking the law. They've long since weighed the pros and cons of resorting to crime to fix their down and out situation.

But, that doesn't mean that when an atypical opportunity arises, such desperate people won't at least consider the option, but possibly even leap to it, impulsively. Joe, in this case, will now have a record. He's over 18 and will now have trouble ever finding a job, at least one of value. Opportunities like the one he witnessed will be less likely to surface on a day to day basis. Joe was an unbeknownst-to-himself opportunist.

How funny because my cousin and i were walking back home drunk from a neighborhood party around 2am and we across a honda that was on and no one in sight. I told my cousin that we should search it and meibe even take it (i was drunk) and he told me it was a "baitcar", never really believed em that they existed.

The problem is why these people are stealing cars, not the simple fact that they are being stolen.
Look at the color of their skin.
Look at the neighborhoods they put the cars in.
It's implied

The police have been doing this kind off stuff around Wal-Mart. They have been placing merchandise in shopping carts (in the parking-lot) and waiting for anyone to pick it up.

Yea I agree; they create crime to justify their jobs. Just like when the CIA talks people into violent acts then supplies them with a fake bomb just to create a terrorist. However, these people in AZ will wait at an entrance of a apartment parking-lot and radio their buddies on 2-way radios when you get out and tell them where you go. As soon as you walk inside they go to work! I hate thieves!

Originally posted by daniel5383
I watched this show last night for the first time and I couldn't help but think how messed up it is for these police to create crime...Granted, the idiots shouldn't steal the vehicles in the first place, but cops shouldnt be able to do this...They should be out stopping murders and preventing crime not creating it!

For anyone that hasnt watched the show, the premise is basically these cops set up a car and put it in a high theft area with the keys on top of the vehicle or wherever and then wait for someone to steal it...They then follow them, turn off the engine and arrest them.

I know there will be people that will say well they shouldnt take the vehicle and it gets rid of criminals and what not, but when you put an escalade with cartons of newports and stuff in a poverty stricken neighborhood unattended, of course someone is gonna steal it...TIMES ARE HARD!

I would like to see yall's opinion on whether you agree with this show or not. What if one of those people stole the car and ran over a child or pulled a gun and shot an officer? Its crazy!

edit on 4-1-2012 by daniel5383 because: (no reason given)

This thread should not have existed. Sure I have had my gripes with some of our governmental policies, such as killing innocent people, etc. But the Bait Car is something that the government is doing that I actually agree with. You see? The government is GETTING RID OF CRIMINALS OFF THE STREETS BEFORE THE COMMIT A CRIME and that, my friend, is something that I like to see.

The government should be doing these and more types of sting operations on EVERY STATE and EVERY CITIES, for example, I would like to see an under cover police men go to Bronx new york/Manhattan, etc and start counting a large stack of $100 bills at 3AM in the morning on the worst neighborhoods with people hanging out outside, and as soon as a gangster/thief tries to rob this individual arrest the thief/group associated with this robbery. Also, they should leave a house wide open, with all doors open all gates outside gates wide open, even put Christmas lights on the outside border of the house main door entrance lighting and flashing while the door is full open, while making sure the house is loaded with concealed CCTV (surveillance cameras) recording every thing, then on a locked bedroom of the house there could be a team of cops watching on a monitor ready to catch the intruder/group of intruders and jail them to the maximum extent of years permitted by federal law.

With these stings, and more, I think the government can keep most criminals outside the streets where they will never be a danger to society any more.

reply to post by CanadaMaster


Why do you think it is that there are so many criminals per capita in the US?

What sets us apart from other first world nations that so many of the people in our society are in jail. As you well know, we have the highest per capita imprisonment rate:

The United States has the highest prison population
rate in the world, some 738 per 100,000 of the
national population, followed by Russia (611),
St Kitts & Nevis (547), U.S. Virgin Is. (521),
Turkmenistan (c.489), Belize (487), Cuba (c.487),
Palau (478), British Virgin Is. (464), Bermuda (463),
Bahamas (462), Cayman Is. (453), American Samoa
(446), Belarus (426) and Dominica (419).

SOURCE

So, I have to ask. Is the system indicative of a problem? My answer is yes. There is a major problem with most European countries have rates like 90 to 150 per 100,000; most African countries are somewhere between 23 and 220. I mention this because it seems as though - and I'm sure this excuse will be brought up - race/ethnicity has nothing to do with incarceration.

Other factors are at work. In my opinion, our lack of a social programs is a myth. We don't have reasonable social programs. Instead, we have prisons. People's lives suck and they become opportunists. The opportunities arise and eventually they are caught. They go to prison.

The kicker? It's still socialism, you've just forced them into the mass social program. You've quarantined the undesirables and provided them room and board and medical treatment.

Ever heard the old adage about someone breaking the law to get into jail for three square meals and shelter? It'd be funny if it weren't reasonably plausible.

Reality check: The fact that we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world should be a very loud, glaring example of how something is awry here in the US. Clearly, entrapment is not going to solve the main issue, just create more opportunity for people to attempt crime. As I said in my analogy a few posts up:

People who live in the ghetto know better because it's been their life for a long, long time. Someone is not just going to leave their keys on the seat and their door wide open because they've grown up there and know better. I noticed the few times I watched the show that the reactions of the guys who do this as they are being filmed scoping out the car and looking inside usually reflects the rarity of the situation. Comments about how this is an insanely lucky opportunity or things to that effect. What does that tell you?

EDIT: The more I look at these crime statistics, the clearer it becomes that we are already in a Fascist Police State and have been for quite some time. Forget the coming clamp downs. Not because they're unlikely. Quite the contrary, I assume they are on their way shortly. I'm just saying this should form a reality check for some of you that we really are already there and any incremental changes are just that, incremental changes on an already active police state system. The more I think about this, those of us preoccupied with this issue should be less concerned with prophetic views espoused by Alex Jones and the like and more concerned with the manifestations we already have experienced in our own towns and cities. It's here already. Bait car is one example. The prison rate is another. There are 1000s of others, just look around you.

reply to post by Praetorius


A lot of people won't agree with you, but I do. Just look at the two who stole the SUV, and listen to their excuse, once they were caught.

"I was just going to show my homies and take it back."

Its clear these, these are the kind of guys that are going to do these kind of things.

The bait car is a good idea in my opinion, and it would be freaken awesome if all cars were built with an option to lock it up, and cut the engine- whether its what we would call ethical... That is a different story.