Affluent Bay Area community launches ‘bait house’ program to combat burglaries
(KRON) — An affluent community on the Peninsula is taking an innovative approach to combating a recent uptick in burglaries. Atherton, an unincorporated town in San Mateo County that regularly tops lists of most expensive zip codes in the U.S., has launched a “bait house” program to “target and deter would-be burglars.”
The program, dubbed the Burglary Prevention Bait House Program, is designed as a proactive approach and involves the strategic deployment of decoy devices equipped with advanced security measures. These decoy devices will be deployed in residences in the community and equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance technology, allowing law enforcement to respond to unauthorized entry.
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The program was first announced back in February. Last week, the Town of Atherton Police Department announced that the first residences in the program had been successfully set up.
The bait houses, according to police, will be strategically located in areas identified as having higher burglary rates. The program will utilize advanced surveillance technology and a rapid police response in order to increase the chance of apprehending suspects in real-time.
Atherton PD called this a “significant step towards enhancing our community,” and thanked community members for supporting the program. Police plan to engage with the community to raise awareness of the bait house program and use a data-driven approach to assess and adjust it going forward.
More residences are planned to be established as the program progresses, police said.
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