Police Consider Baiting Houses

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WGxpQx2L6k

After seeing some homes that have been foreclosed on, I think this is a great idea. Bait the homes so if thieves want to vandalize a home, they’ll get caught. The biggest problem seems to be that some owners of foreclosed homes are the guilty ones. They trash the place, taking dishwashers, stoves, microwaves, cabinets and even the plumbing fixtures and wiring.

So it’s nice that the police in St. Louis are contemplating what they are calling “bait” houses – gussying up empty homes with steal-able stuff like flat-screen TVs and new computers in order to woo crooks to the scene.

The bait will all be wired, so when the thieves make off with it, the cops will be right behind. Hidden cameras will confirm that they got the bad guys.

The police say the program has other advantages as well. “I hope that for every person that we arrest out of a bait house, there’s another 20 who don’t decide to break into a house because they think it might be a bait house,” police department spokesman Rick Eckhard says.

However, how do you punish the former owners of foreclosed homes that strip their homes before they leave? Any ideas?