Car thieves in Abbotsford may well find themselves in the hot seat in September.

In an effort to drive down auto theft, as well as thefts from vehicles, the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) is planting bait cars with valuables in them around the Abbotsford next month.

"We want car thieves to know we're going to be there, and we're turning the heat up and their chances of getting caught are higher than ever," said IMPACT media relations officer Sgt. Gord Elias.

Along with police dogs, one of the biggest fears of thieves is getting caught in a bait car, according to IMPACT.

"It's because the evidence is so overwhelming and the audio and video [footage] can be shown in court," said Elias.

"Once the suspect and defence lawyer see the tape, there really is no defence, and the suspect usually pleads guilty in court."

Earlier this year, bait car "live technology" was put into all the decoy vehicles which sends real-time live audio and video feed directly to police dispatchers.

The new technology allows dispatchers to see and listen to car crooks to determine how many people are in the car, where they might be headed and if they’re armed so they can alert police officers to the dangers.

"We've had suspects with sharpened screwdrivers or knives, or suspects talking about ramming police cars," said Elias.

"In April, we had two suspects armed with a sawed-off rifle on their way to do a bank robbery."

Bait cars are a primary reason for a dramatic drop in auto theft in B.C. – including Abbotsford and Mission – in the past five years.

Since the inception of the Bait Car program in 2003, auto theft in the province has dropped by 47 per cent, according to ICBC statistics.

In the same time period, thefts fell by 44 per cent in Abbotsford, and 32 per cent in Mission.

Last year, 770 vehicles were stolen in Abbotsford, which represented a three per cent drop from 2007.

Abbotsford Police statistics show a downward trend into 2009 as well.

In a year-to-year comparison as of this week, auto theft is down close to 32 per cent compared to 2008.

However, despite gains, Abbotsford still placed among the top five cities that led the region in the number of auto thefts in 2008.

Surrey led with 2,640 vehicle thefts in 2008, followed by Vancouver at 1,820. Burnaby had the third highest rate with 850 thefts last year and Abbotsford ranked fourth with 770 vehicles stolen.Langley placed fifth with 610 stolen vehicles reported.

The most popular car with thieves tend to be Honda Civics and Ford F-series trucks.

The number or vehicles and types of bait cars being deployed in Abbotsford is a closely guarded secret.

"That's because the success of the bait car program is based on thieves fear of the unknown," said Elias.

-with Black Press files