Proceeds of crime fund new Abbotsford police bait car device
Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen presented the Abbotsford Police with $8,000 in funding from the provincial government's civil forfeiture program on Friday.
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: September 11, 2009 5:25 PM
The Abbotsford Police will be implementing their own version of bait cars to catch auto thieves with a new GPS tracking device funded by the provincial government.
Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen presented APD Chief Bob Rich with an $8,000 cheque today (Friday) from the province's civil forfeiture funding program.
The Civil Forfeiture Act enables the Supreme Court to order the forfeiture of assets from crime.
Proceeds from the sale of forfeited assets go into a special account that is used, in part, to compensate victims of unlawful activity and help prevent or remedy the effects of crime.
The APD applied for a grant from the program and will use the money to buy a portable GPS tracking device to be installed on bait cars.
When the vehicle starts to move, police will be able to follow the car thief at a safe distance and without a large number of officers for surveillance, said Sgt. Rick Stewart, head of the department's crime reduction unit.
"The civil forfeiture funding program is the perfect way to support local law enforcement," said van Dongen.
"This new crime fighting effort will help the Abbotsford police improve the efficiency of the way they investigate major crimes like vehicle theft. I am glad to see this grant money being used in such an innovative and functional way."
The Abbotsford Police have filed 10 possible cases regarding assets of crime to the director of the civil forfeiture.
The program has acquired $7.5 million in cash and assets to date, and funded 40 different local projects.
v2
