Briefly: We have heard loads of stories about Apple AirTags and Tile trackers being utilized by individuals to seek out stolen objects. It is a pattern that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Colorado’s Arvada Police division, who’re giving the trackers away free of charge to members of the general public in a bid to scale back automobile thefts.
Since their arrival in 2021, AirTags have been common amongst each these committing crimes and people attempting to stop them. CBS Colorado stories that the Arvada Police Division has loads of religion within the gadgets’ capability to trace stolen vehicles, which is why it has been giving them out free.
Though the report focuses on Apple’s AirTags, the APD additionally handed out Tile trackers throughout its first giveaway (the following one will happen in April).
Those that obtain a AirTag or Tile additionally get a sticker for his or her car that warns would-be thieves that it’s tracker-equipped and will be tracked by police if stolen. The report notes that the police don’t have entry to the automobile proprietor’s tracker location as soon as it’s put in in a car – it is going to be as much as the proprietor to supply location particulars to police if their car is stolen.
A single Apple AirTag prices $29, or $99 for a 4 pack. The Tile Mate is $25 for a single pack, the Tile Slim is $35, and a two pack of Tile Professional trackers is $60. It is unclear what number of monitoring gadgets the police drive is gifting away, however the division little doubt believes the price of investigating car thefts is greater than shopping for a number of hundred trackers.
Paradoxically, there have been stories in 2021 of thieves inserting AirTags on vehicles parked in public locations. The gadgets have been hooked up to out-of-sight spots, together with trailer hitches, bumpers, and gasoline caps. Thieves then tracked the autos till they stopped in an acceptable location to steal, such because the victims’ residences.
We have additionally seen tales about AirTags being utilized by the DEA to observe suspected narcotics tools. One was used to discover a misplaced $8,000 bike, a carpenter turned to the gadgets to find a stash of stolen instruments value hundreds of thousands, and a sufferer tracked down mail thieves by means of the monitoring tech. On the flip aspect, a 2024 examine confirmed monitoring gadgets have been often utilized in organized crime and by home violence perpetrators.