The Dallas Police Department (DPD) has over 3,600 sworn officers who take pride in helping to make Dallas a safe place to live, work and visit. To fight the widespread problem of Burglary of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and Unauthorized Use of Vehicles (UUV), the DPD employs bait vehicles. These are undercover vehicles outfitted with covert surveillance systems to alert officers of a car theft in progress, track the vehicle, remote disable vehicle engine—and capture video evidence of criminal activity.

According to FBI reporting, there were an estimated 721, 053 thefts of motor vehicles nationwide in 2012. The estimated rate of motor vehicle thefts was 229.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

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