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Posted: 6/5/2008 11:57:38 AM EDT
Dallas police suspend bait car program
Related Story: Texas man steals police car, kills 1 The Associated Press DALLAS — Dallas police have halted their bait car program while they investigate why officers couldn't disable a stolen decoy vehicle before it was involved in a crash that killed an elderly woman. During a news conference Tuesday, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said officers saw the bait vehicle shortly before the accident Monday afternoon. They called for dispatchers to hit the kill switch but an error message came up, presumably because the accident had already occurred, Kunkle said. Officers cannot ask for the kill switch to be activated until they have the decoy car in sight and believe it's safe to turn off the engine. They don't have the ability to remotely activate brakes on the vehicles, Kunkle said. "Our policy, which we are reviewing, is we don't direct a bait car to be shut off unless officers see the vehicle, because we want to do that in an area and manner as safe as possible," Kunkle said. Annie Tovar Reyes, 83, died of injuries suffered in a crash with a bait vehicle in north Oak Cliff. The stolen bait car struck the driver's side of her car, police said. Eddie Ramirez, 28, faces charges of felony theft and murder in her death, police said. Ramirez was being held without bond. Jail records do not show if he has an attorney. Bait cars have resulted in 245 arrests since the program began in 2004, officials said. "We still think the bait cars are a very, very valuable tool and a safer way to arrest auto theft suspects than almost any of the other alternatives," Kunkle said. |
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WTF, if they have a "bait car" and it's out they should ALWAYS have eyes on it. How is it this guy jacked the car and was driving away without an officer seeing it?? AND why dont they have a remote switch??
MAN their hosed!! |
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Another proud moment in Law Enforcement. Sounds like something straight out of a Reno 911 episode.
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While it sucks for the lady and her family, I don't see how the city or the PD is really at fault over this. My understanding is that the officers weren't in a chase, and the subject just happened to be speeding and hit someone. That could have happened in any car he stole, bait car or not.
The fact that they could have turned it off earlier but didn't doesn't bother me either. If they turn it off without knowing that he's in a safe place, and somebody smacks into him and kills themself, it's the same type of situation. That said, the city will throw $20,000 of my tax dollars at her family and it will go away. The bait car program will be disbanded, and Mr. Ramirez's hermano will jack my car instead. |
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While I see what your saying I also see that the cops GAVE this guy an opportunity to steal a car, they ALLOWED him to steal it which in turn was used to cause an accident that killed someone. IF the car was not their with the keys in it would this accident have happened??? I highly doubt it would halve, so yes it was the departments fault it happened. |
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OMG... so true |
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You know, some car thieves are marginally smarter than a mushroom and might actually notice someone sitting in the parking lot watching the bait car..... When we've used a bait car we've had a marked unit sitting in a parking lot ~1/2 mile away all night. Brian |
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agree very funny!!! I always though this was a great tactic, didnt realize they didnt have remotes with the officers to shut the car down...... |
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Nothing is going to happen to them since they are running the program in a similar manner to many other agencies. Observation isnt done on most bait vehicles since they are tracked via other means and the presence of people watching the vehicle will tend to scare off the suspects. The kill switches are located, typically with dispatchers, since they are centralized and requires fewer units to be installed. |
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Shouldn't the police be held liable as well because they failed to secure their bait vehicle? |
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Kharn |
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I'm stupid... what about remotely cutting the throttle cable? That would take the speed out of the chase, but still leave an idling engine for power steering and power brakes.
The rigging can't be much more complicated than a few brackets, a servo, and a pair of cable cutters. |
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Sounds like the dipshit had the accident before the car could be disabled.
Not much to fault the cops on this one. |
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And replacing the throttle cable hundreds of times. |
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I had a woman tell me that it was strictly the driver's fault - that just like guns, cars do not kill people, people do.
I told her that if the cops were putting out a "bait gun" it would not be loaded. Policy changes are a guarantee after this snafu. |
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Here's the guy's arrest record:
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Maybe Super Troopers? |
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Probably about 1 hour labor and $100 in parts each time, depending on the car. Sadly, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than the lawsuit they're about to lose for someone else's actions. I guess there's a reason I'm not a mechanic... it's probably far easier to just wire up a switch to break the circuit from the throttle position sensor, which would have the same effect without having to replace the cable each time. |
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What happened to setting a car up where it can still be viewed but from a distance?? I realize parking the squad car a couple stalls over wouldnt be the best idea :) or a car with a few people in it just sitting around in the same parking lot.... Also truly "smart" car thiefs would'nt be stupid enough to jack a car sitting in a parking lot with the keys in it, thats a spontaniouse theft, smart ones choose the cars they want and plan it out...... |
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Bait car is a great self selecting way to get criminals off the street.
It shuold be used 10 times more than it is. They should also bring back high speed pursuits. I don't really see what the police did here that was wrong. Would a normal citizen who left their car unattended also be held to the same standard? What is that standard? |
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BULLSHIT! |
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Maybe I'm missing something, for an officer to charge someone with car theft during these bait things does the perp actually need to leave the parking lot?
Or is it considered theft once they get in and start it?? If they do not need to leave the parking lot to me it would make sense to have cameras in the car (like a lot do) and simply shut it down prior to them leaving the parking lot. |
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Hmm I would say yes if they did it on purpose to see if someone would steal their car.... |
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Wait, wait, wait, this was his SECOND time to steal a Dallas Police bait car? And he only lasted FOUR fucking days out of prison before doing it again? Did they park this thing outside his house or something? He sounds like a real winner. Wow. What an idiot. Activating the brakes and not turning off the car while disconnecting the throttle cable is very easy. Generally when you build a full size remote controlled car, you set it to brake a as a default. That said, they can't really pull it without a squad car being close by because the guy would just flee on foot. |
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While unfourtinate it should be no more the department's fault than it would be yours if your car was stolen.
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Man you have some creative use of homophones! I mean, "their" was a no brainer but "halve" just had me cracking up! |
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No, it's the car thief's fault that it happened. |
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this |
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Gave him an opertunity? Are you high? they arent marked. its not like there is a sign that says "Bait car please steal me". this dirt bag was out to steal a car and he did, it just turns out it was a police bait car just like the last one he stole. Its sad they will suspend that program. |
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As soon as I place my car somewhere with no other intent than to have it stolen I will agree with this. If you are going to place a car somewhere to have it swiped, you should probably have an eye on it (hide in a building/video camera) and a quick way to disable it. Calling in dispatch does not equal quick. |
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True, maybe I'm pushing the same lines the cops or prosecuters push. Let me give you a couple of examples... At the bar the bartender serves the drinks, the guy gets drunk then goes out and kills someone. Guess what, YEP, prosecuters and cops want to hold the bar liable for serving the guy drinks when he was already intoxicated.... So is it the guys fault for driving drunk or the bars fault for giving him the drinks?? Maybe both? Guy has 20 guns but does nothing to secure then, even left his house unlocked. Couple people break into his house and steal his guns then kill severall people in his area while they are running away. Prosecutors and cops will not only attempt to convict the theives but also charge the person who had the guns stolen from him because he didnt take propper precaustions to secure his weapons... So who's fault is the guys who actually killed the people or the guy who was robbed?? Maybe both? I see this as the same, the criminal is at fault yes and will be dealt with HOWEVER shouldnt the department take some accountability for this and share in the situation?? Not cop bashing, just see it as a double standard at times. |
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Exactly how much do you know about dispatch, all-knowing one? Providing correct planning and coordination, the order and action could be completed momentarily. I know that doesn't fit into your theory that anything to do with law enforcement is incompetent, though. |
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That woman is right. Nobody made him steal it. |
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Ever heard of Lo-Jack? GPS works wonders. |
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Crazy bait car thief. |
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This is getting funny, ALL of your are correct in the fact the yes you can monitor the cars location through many different channels HOWEVER the police departments structure is that THEY MUST HAVE EYES on the car prior to shutting it down. SO GPS will not allow for them to VIEW the car therfor not a good option to go off of during this type of bust. IF you cant have eyes on it then you should not be attempting the bust as it's directed that you must have eyes on it to shut it down!!! |
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100% the scumbags fault. With the cops not even chasing him yet, it was just sheer recklessness on his part. I feel bad for the woman who was killed, and her family, but this one is not the cops fault.
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Yeah but all of those allow the cops to quickly find those cars and when they do to disable them. I highly doubt they just leave the car and go about their day doing traffic stops, more than likely they are sitting around waiting for the car to be stolen. Some leo chime in on how this actually works... here ya go. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm--eSDWyZo&NR=1 |
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By that logic, if someone siphons your gas to burn down an illegal night club with 300 people in it, and you don't have a locking gas cap, you're just as liable. There's only ONE appropriate word that kind of "logic"... BULLSHIT! |
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Fuggit. Install some shatter resistant glass and lock the shitbird in. Why the baitcar was not monitored/surveilled more closely in this situation and why police on scene should have to contact dispatch to shut it down is a bit beyond me. That having been said, I fully support baitcar concept. |
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Uhhm these are real life examples and cops and prosecutors charge 2nd parties for this kind of stuff often. That’s why I was pointing it out, they want to hold 2nd parties accountable for contributing to the situation however when it comes to their own actions they don’t want to be held accountable....I dont agree with holding 2nd parties accountable however if the law is set up that way then it should go for instances like this..... |
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Charge the guy who stole the car with murder.
Move on. End of story. |
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These are my favorite threads. The number of people that offer matter of fact answers to these situations and have absolutely no idea what they are talking about is incredibly high. A few minutes of self-education on the internet (or real life) could save several here the oportunity to look foolish, but that would lessen the entertainment value.
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So I see cars with words across the top of the front and rear windows, usually in some fake looking calligraphy script.
I wonder if my car would be less likely to be stolen if I put BAIT CAR across the tops of my front and rear windows like I see on wangster cars..... |
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He was yelling "ONCOMING! ONCOMING! ONCOMING! ONCOMING! ONCOMING! " |
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