Police in a California city use “bait houses” to catch burglars

In the wealthy Bay Area town of Atherton, California, where the number of home burglaries has increased dramatically this year, a unique method is being used to catch the perpetrators.

Police in Atherton recently turned around 50 homes into “bait houses”, where they place tracking devices on items they think burglars will want to take.

“The idea is that when one of these items starts moving, we will receive a notification to the police department and our response will begin,” said Atherton Police Chief Dan Larsen.

The department will then launch a drone that will follow the tracking device. About 50 license plate readers installed in a small city will be able to detect a fleeing vehicle and provide its description, he added.

Resident and homeowner John Maulbetsch said he was impressed with the idea.

“I don’t actually like surveillance, but I think it’s an effective system,” he said.

Police acknowledge that the bait houses resemble bait cars designed to tempt car thieves, but said they are not intended to lure burglars.

“We don’t build houses like, ‘Hey! Come here. This is the house you want to break into. This is a house where we engage with the community and they say, “Hey! we are interested in this program,” Larsen said. “We go into their homes, place these tracking devices on items that already exist on the property, and once they are taken, we begin an investigation.”

The police department said more and more homeowners are willing to participate, so much so that they plan to rotate the homes where they will place the bait.