APD announces plans to thwart car thieves at Balloon Fiesta

with just a little under two weeks until balloon fiesta, albuquerque police announce ...  More »

with just a little under two weeks until balloon fiesta, albuquerque police announce they'll be out in force around the city -- looking for car thieves. kayla anderson has more on that and the tool they'll be using. no-- this isn't a car lot. it's balloon fiesta park-- turned into a minute thumbnail 05:07 pm scene that would make a car thief drool. "our lineup today shows some of the cars that have the highest hit, if you will, on stolen vehicles. the cadillac escalade being the number one vehicle." hoping to keep your car in your hands ... police are making auto theft a top priority this balloon fiesta. "detectives will be watching parking lots at the fiesta, as well as hotels and restaurants throughout the city of albuquerque." with dozens of cars typically stolen during balloon fiesta, police will be using license plate scanners. "license plate reader, cameras in front and back. they'll read license plates in moving and stationary mode." the scanners can look at plates on hundreds of cars within minutes... and instantly tell an officer if a vehicle has been reported stolen. "they will be putting these readers on unmarked cars, so no one will know who will be checking plates throughout the city." through october 15th apd is using what's called predictive crime modeling. that means they'll put bait vehicles in minute thumbnail 05:08 pm locations where they think a car is most likely to be stolen. "they're tracked. they're controllable. we can shut them off. we can lock the bad guys into them." in albuquerque, kayla anderson, eyewitness news 4. police point out that last year during balloon fiesta, no cars were reported stolen. they hope increased patrols will continue that trend this year  « Less