Facing the highest rates of vehicle thefts among Canadian cities, Winnipeg police are turning to high-tech equipment to try to track down stolen cars and trucks.
The municipal force is purchasing a $25,000 camera and computer system for police cruisers that will be able to scan up to 200 licence plates per minute — even in moving traffic. It will then check to see whether the plates are on vehicles that have been reported stolen.
"It provides pretty much instantaneous data to the officer involved, who can then relay that information to any other units in the area," Staff Sgt. Aubrey Kehler said Thursday.
The system, similar to ones already used by Vancouver and Toronto police, is touted as a big improvement over Winnipeg's current one, which requires officers to manually enter licence plate numbers and wait up to two minutes for a response.
"It should allow us to target a vehicle without [the driver] knowing and then deploy resources to avoid a pursuit," said Sgt. Doug Safioles.
Winnipeg has long been known as the stolen-car capital of Canada. Figures from Statistics Canada show there were 1,712 vehicles reported stolen per 100,000 people in 2005 — almost 700 more than second-place Edmonton.
Public concern has grown in recent weeks because of two cases in which drivers of stolen cars took deliberate runs at pedestrians. In one instance, a jogger suffered serious head injuries.
The cases have renewed a political debate over what can be done to deal with car thieves, who are often teenagers out for a reckless joyride.
"They're doing it for the thrill, which is a really odd and a strange occurrence," said Manitoba Attorney General Dave Chomiak, who earlier this week announced extra money for Winnipeg's stolen auto unit.
Chomiak also travelled to Ottawa, where he pressed federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson for tougher penalties for vehicle thefts.
Manitoba's Opposition Progressive Conservatives say the NDP government has talked a lot about tackling the issue, but has failed to take concrete action to prevent teens who steal cars from reoffending.
Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen has called for ankle bracelets to be put on convicted car thieves so they can be monitored. He's also called for more officers to enforce curfews on thieves who are on probation.
Goertzen says the province is not making enough use of so-called bait cars — vehicles set up by police who lie in wait until a thief tries to break in.
"[That] has proven to be successful in provinces like Saskatchewan and B.C., which have driven down their auto theft rates by 40 per cent."
Chomiak points to several initiatives the province has announced since 2000, including a program that requires curfew checks and other limits for the most serious repeat offenders.
The province has also cut car thefts by offering subsidized immobilizers for people who own vehicles that are popular targets for thieves, he said.
