Sentinel staff report–
Citrus Heights police took to social media last week advising would-be thieves that the department is deploying GPS-tracked “bait” packages to help arrest anyone stealing packages from porches during the holiday season.
The image showed a photo of the door to a home with packages piled in front, accompanied by the message “Porch pirates beware: you never know what might be bait.”
In the department’s post on Facebook, police also said: “Porch pirates, this holiday season please take our advice, if you’re going to steal a package you better think twice!”
As reported by The Sentinel earlier this year, Citrus Heights police say the department’s highly publicized “bait” program has helped lower property crime in the city.
The department regularly posts mug shots of recent bait arrests on its social media pages, with the goal of making sure would-be criminals know that if they steal in Citrus Heights, there’s a good chance it might be a bait item tracked by the police department.
According to Lt. Chad Morris, who helped launch the program in 2016, there were a total of 48 bait-related arrests in Citrus Heights this year, through August. Compared with last year’s total of about 100 during the same period, there’s been less arrests this year — but Morris says that’s an indication that the program is working as a deterrent.
“[We] feel that the bait program has played an integral role in reducing property crimes throughout the city over the past few years since we started the program,” the lieutenant wrote in a prior email to The Sentinel. “It is just one more tool in our toolbox, albeit a very effective one.”
Want to know how much jail time suspects arrested with bait typically get? Read more in prior story: Police: Bait program helping reduce property crime in Citrus Heights
