Opinions: Hook, line and sinker

 published on Thursday, March 20, 2008

Fish bait, jailbait … and now we have car-thief bait to add to the party.

As the never-ending problem of auto thefts continues to plague campus car owners, the Tempe Police and our dearly beloved Parking and Transit Services have come up with a way to fight back — planting "bait cars" in parking lots and structures across campus.

These cars (and trucks) serve as both a crime deterrent — in the sense that car thieves are more cautious — and as an active antitheft system — in the sense that if a car thief breaks in, the Tempe Police are automatically notified. Even cooler, they can shut the engine off, lock the doors and trap the now-screwed bandit inside. Not even the "Gone in 60 Seconds" version of Nicolas Cage would stand a chance against that bait and switch.

According to Tempe Police, the bait cars have already helped keep the number of auto thefts on the decline citywide. And as the idea makes its way onto the Tempe campus, we can only hope the same trend will continue. After all, according to ASU Police crime stats, 264 cars were stolen on campus property between 2004 and 2006.

Even less car thefts on campus … well, that would be just dandy.

But since we can't help but be picky, especially in matters relating to PTS, we're left wondering why bait bikes and bait boards aren't being rolled out as well. We can just see it now: Thievy McThieverson busts the lock on that gorgeous pink beach cruiser with yellow painted-on flowers parked in front of Hayden Library. But when he hops on his newly acquired bike, he has a surprise awaiting him in the form of the Police's anti-theft system. We imagine this to involve some combination of magically appearing, body-enrapturing metal bars, ankle cuffs and perhaps even impaling stakes.

Alas, this might not be entirely realistic.

As a result, we'll let our pickiness fall by the wayside and be less critical of PTS. While we still disagree with their $25 fines for "parking outside stall lines," we are inclined to think positive thoughts toward them for a change. For once, their focus seems to be on actually protecting the vehicles we pay an arm and a leg to park rather than on repainting that parking garage or, of course, enforcing penalties for our every little violation.

This bait-car system is money well spent — something that takes at least a tiny bit of the sting off of that $600 permit.

So, whatever, we'll just come out and say it: Thank you, PTS, for finally spending our money in a better way — it's a big win for those who feel perturbed about parking.