TruTV's "BaitCar"

Originally posted by Maxatoria
aint those cars remote stoppable and pretty much everythings under police control so they cant even open the windows etc

but even if i saw a car with gold bricks on the backseat with the engine running/keys in the ignition i'd smell a rat and perhaps use the wing mirror to check my hair while spotting the cameras and then walk away towards the nearest large van making piggy noises

"everythings under police control", except when things go wrong, and then they're not in control. I think the OP brings up a pretty valid point with this show. Although it is getting bad people off the streets, at the same time it puts everyone else in danger, unless we're suddenly going to decide that cars aren't dangerous anymore

reply to post by jimnuggits


This is not the dictionary term of 'entrapment'. If they handed the keys to the suspect and told them to take it and then arrested them, that would be 'entrapment'.

"In criminal law, entrapment is conduct by a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit." They are not inducing anyone to do anything. In fact, many people just walk past. The cops are presenting an opportunity but nothing beyond that.

The individuals that do take the cars would have likely taken the car no matter who left it. In fact, they believe it was just the average citizen who left the car so the thief was likely to steal any car if they thought they could get away with it.

No, this whole 'entrapment' concern has played out in the courts, and it is not entrapment at all. It is just in your personal opinion that it is entrapment.

Originally posted by HandyDandy
reply to post by Frontkjemper

 

I wasn't trying to get people to believe car theft wasn't a problem....herr derr yourself.

What I and many like me are trying to tell you stupid people is that this type of police work is entrapment. No matter what the outcome is.

Let's see.

The police spend money on a vehicle to "bait". They spend man hours to "watch" said vehicle. They spend lots of money to catch a "criminal" to be placed in the judiciary system.......I.E. more money for THEMSELVES.

What everyone is saying about the reason being to stop car thiefs is utter BS IMO. If they wanted to stop car thiefs in an area, they could spend a HELL of a lot less time and money just patrolling the area. But that doesn't bring in revenue for either the police department nor the judicial department, the private prison complex, etc.

My argument is not to coddle to these car thiefs (I myself think they are despicable).

But, I WILL NOT condone the police becoming criminals themselves to catch a criminal.

Get it yet harr dee harr harr.......?

edit on 5-1-2012 by HandyDandy because: (no reason given)

(b.s)...
Jeezus :It is physically easier and cheaper in the long run to focus a surveillance team on one "target" than patrol an entire neighborhood of parked cars and be ready to pull over a car that may or not be stolen.
If the cops own the car everyone involved Knows who the owner is.

Anybody else taking it is therefore "stealing" it.(thieves "self identify" by their actions).If they don't act on their "temptation" ;they are not "thieves".

They are equipped to shutdown remotely: it prevents high speed chases; Installed video documents the thieves actions.

For all you "Armchair lawyers" out there:
"entrapment" is a finely debated, well tested legal precedent. The courts have ruled on it for years. I'm sorry if you could see yourselves "entrapped" in such a "tempting" situation;Stealing is wrong;Don't take things that don't belong to you.I don't care what your upbringing was.

I always was under the impression that these shows were a form of entrapment. Sure they shouldn't have stolen the car but what if it only happened because they saw that one car in the one situation that was just too tempting. Kind of like you might be more likely to eat a big bowl of ice cream if you happened to walk by one waiting to be eaten in the kitchen. It may be a criminal that they caught, but i feel they created the crime. Isn't that illegal also??

Bait Car is great entertainment but I don't agree with it at all. In one specific episode an older white lady got in the car and moved it to a parking spot, she didn't get arrested. In another episode a 20 something year old black kid did the same exact thing and now he has a felony on his hands. Not trying to play the race card but demographics have a lot to do with these type of situations. Plus, I'd rather my tax money not go to setting up fictitious situations to catch someone who wasn't going to commit the crime in the first place. This isn't legal in my state and it actually would disgust me if it was.

reply to post by Joenobody211


It is illegal in some states but it should be illegal in all of them. If I seen a car sitting in the middle of the road with the keys in the ignition and the doors open right after an altercation I would want to get in the car and move it to a parking spot just so someone doesn't steal it, can't even do that nowadays.

I was just watching this and came here to raise the same questions actually. I searched and will respond here instead.

I am not anti-cop and I have viewed my opinions on here towards the waves of police brutality videos that go viral.

I don't think its right for them to set this up and then somewhere along the line taxpayers have to pay for processing the offenders. Its wasteful at a time when we should be spending wisely. They will catch those criminals on other crimes eventually. If they didn't have the bait cars and one of these people instead killed someone, you can't control what people are going to do unfortunately.

Thinking about all the things government has a role in, trying to regulate, It has over extended its funds and operates with huge debt. The cycle needs to be stopped. We cant afford four more years this time...again. We couldn't afford it for W. either. Rather than voting the same clowns back in every time, we should probably just let Ron Paul have a stab at it. I mean really... whats the worst that could happen?