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Jun 16, 2008 5:44 pm US/Central
DPD 'Bait Car' Program Will Resume After Changes
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
The Dallas City Council has decided that the police bait car program, aimed at catching car thieves, will resume after some changes are made. The program was put on hold earlier this month after an innocent woman was killed in a crash involving a stolen bait car.
The City Council's Public Safety Committee reviewed all aspects of the program, including the events of the fatal car accident.
Police say on June 2nd a stolen bait car was taken by suspect Eddie Ramirez. Officers began to follow the suspect, without lights or sirens, but temporarily lost sight of the vehicle.
The 'bait car' with the suspect still inside collided with and killed 83-year-old Annie Reyes. "We'll never see my grandmother again," said Edward Leal, the victim's grandson. "But hopefully, they can change something in their procedure that will prevent this from happening."
Bait cars are made for police to be able to remotely shut them off. In this case it took 27 seconds to disable the car. "The signal was operating properly. It was that the signal to deactivate came three seconds after the collision and the equipment wasn't functioning because of the accident," said Dallas Police Department Assistant Chief Ron Waldrop.
Police told the city council they want to continue using bait cars but will make some adjustments so they can be shut down faster. Adjusting the software and making changes in communication were necessary.
"We've taken seconds out of the process and with those enhancements we think that's really about all we can do to make this any safer," Waldrop said.
Police say the bait car program has helped capture more than 250 suspects in Dallas since it started in 2004.
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