Atherton police and residents use ‘bait houses’ to catch burglars – NBC Bay Area

The wealthy peninsula town of Atherton uses a very special method to catch burglars.

Atherton has seen a dramatic increase in burglaries this year, double the number last year, and is one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Recently, Atherton Police came up with the idea of ​​turning about 50 homes into decoy houses. NBC Bay Area has chosen not to show any of the homes mentioned in this story. But the decoy is out there, waiting.

“We build tracking devices into items that we believe criminals are specifically targeting during burglaries,” says Atherton Police Chief Dan Larsen. “The idea is that as soon as one of these items is moved, we receive a notification to the police department, who then respond with our actions.”

Police respond by launching a drone that follows the tracking device and installing about 50 license plate readers that can identify the getaway vehicle and provide a description. All of this is done in the hope of apprehending the burglars in this city of just five square miles.

Residents NBC Bay Area spoke to Thursday were impressed.

“We have three license plate cameras around the Lloyden Park neighborhood. I’m not a big fan of surveillance in general, but I think this is an effective system,” said homeowner John Maulbetsch of Atherton.

Police admit that the decoy houses are similar to decoy cars in that they are designed to lure thieves. But stress that the purpose of the decoy houses is not to lure burglars.

“We’re not setting up houses where you can say, ‘Hey! Come here. This is the house we want you to break into.’ It’s a house where we work with the community and people say, ‘Hey! We’re interested in this program,'” Larsen said. “We go into their homes, attach these tracking devices to things that are already on the property, and when they’re stolen, we start our investigation.”

A large part of the population seems to agree. Police said more and more homeowners have expressed their willingness to participate. Police said they plan to take turns placing bait in different homes.