Louisiana Beefing Up Bait Car Program To Fight Auto Theft

NU Online News Service, Oct. 29, 10:29 a.m. EDT

Authorities in Louisiana have teamed up with insurance interests for a major bait car program to combat vehicle theft in the state, it was announced yesterday.

State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon held a press conference in New Orleans yesterday to publicize the technology being put in place.

He said two programs within the Department of Insurance's Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) are aimed at reducing vehicle theft and insurance fraud in Orleans Parish.

He was joined at the press conference by New Orleans Police Department Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo and National Insurance Crime Bureau President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Wehrle.

The commissioner said that in partnership with the Crime Bureau and New Orleans police, LATIFPA is expanding its Vehicle Investigation Prevention Enforcement Response (VIPER) and its License Plate Recognition (LPR) programs.

VIPER, it was explained is the statewide bait car program where LATIFPA and the NICB, equip vehicles donated by insurance companies with the latest digital, video and audio recording devices, GPS tracking, remote door locking and engine shutoff capabilities.

Upon activation of the system, law enforcement can stop the bait car, lock suspects in a vehicle they are attempting to make off with and make arrests.

Commissioner Donelon said the target goal of the VIPER program is to have multiple bait vehicles in every major city in Louisiana where there are incidences of increased vehicle theft.

"New Orleans received its first bait car in September so it's only been active for about a month," Mr. Donelon related. The VIPER program, he said, was delayed in New Orleans due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

LATIFPA has placed two bait vehicles in Baton Rouge, one in Shreveport and one in Lake Charles and these four bait cars combined have resulted in 75 activations and 99 arrests, the Louisiana Insurance Department said in a statement.

So far there have been no activations or arrests associated with the new bait vehicle in the city of New Orleans,

Commissioner Donelon also announced that the LATIFPA board of directors had recently approved the award of a second License Plate Reader to New Orleans.

The LPR program is funded by LATIFPA and implemented in conjunction with the NICB.

LPR systems are designed to capture pictures of thousands of license plates from moving or stationary vehicles, process the images and send the images to a centralized database, and within seconds determine if the vehicle matching the license plate has been reported stolen.

"This technology has also been used by law enforcement to track Amber Alerts, car jackings, and robberies with vehicle descriptions," Commissioner Donelon said.

Under the LATIFPA License Plate Recognition program, LPR systems will also be put in place in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and in Tangipahoa Parish, the commissioner said.

The first LPR received by New Orleans in January 2009 has so far aided in the recovery of 16 stolen vehicles valued at approximately $191,000 and one stolen license plate has been recovered. All of the LPRs in Louisiana combined have aided in the recovery of 91 stolen vehicles valued at approximately $914,000, 24 stolen license plates and 40 arrests through September 2009, it was reported.

Commissioner Donelon said that according to the FBI, there were nearly 1 million motor vehicle thefts in the United States in 2008 with an estimated value of $6.4 billion.

In Louisiana, there were nearly 14,000 vehicles reported stolen in 2008, ranking Louisiana 21st in the nation in the actual number of vehicles stolen.

Also in 2008, the FBI reported that New Orleans was ranked highest in Louisiana for motor vehicle theft offenses known to law enforcement, with 3,208 motor vehicle thefts. Shreveport/Bossier City is second with 1,253 reported motor vehicle thefts. Baton Rouge was next, reporting 974 motor vehicle thefts that same year.

Insurance fraud accounts for 10 percent of the property and casualty insurance industry's losses and those losses are passed on to the public with higher premiums, said Commissioner Donelon.

He added that the average household pays over $950 a year in additional premiums to cover insurance fraud.

LATIFPA was created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2004 and is a public agency whose purpose is to combat motor vehicle theft, including fraud by theft and other criminal acts.