http://www.todaystmj4.com/_content/news/special/story_1484.aspAbout 17 cars disappear off the streets of Milwaukee every single day. That's 120 cars every week.
We have video of a thief -- who has just stolen the wrong car. He doesn't know this is a "bait-car" rigged with hidden cameras and watched by the police. It's a high tech way to catch the bad guys.
Charles Hutchinson had his car stolen from his east side parking space in January.
"Yeah i didn't know what to do so i just called the police. A couple of months ago i actually got my cd player stolen first..."
Car thieves stole more than 6-thousand cars in milwaukee last year alone. And even if your car hasn't been lifted -- everyone in the city pays more for insurance -- because the city's theft problem is so bad.
Laurance Burzynski is with the National Insurance Crime Bureau -- a group that works with police and insurance companies. He shows us some of the stolen cars -- found recently in Milwaukee.
Engines gone -- electronic parts ripped out. It's what's left after a car ends up in a "chop shop" - operations run by organized rings that steal cars for their parts.
You have to take out the chop shops -- you have to have some way of keeping the pressure on," he tells us. But in the late 1990's the Milwaukee Police Department effectively disbanded its auto theft squad -- re-directing officers to investigate other crimes.
And remember that bait car? That's not in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Police haven't used them since the mid 90's. Lt. John Hagen is now in charge of auto theft investigations. We asked why Milwaukee is so far behind.
His response: " I don't think we're far behind on that - i mean what other agency in the state of Wisconsin has a bait car?"
Actually the whole state is behind. Illinois even has special auto theft task forces -- using state and local cops -- and bait cars to go after theives.
Sergeant Steve Emberton is with the Illinois State Police. He tells us, "The overall theft rate originally dropped about 25-percent."
"Why are we so far behind?" we ask Milwaukee police.
The answer: "I don't know we have a police chief right now - that looks at this as a serious problem and we're addressing and we're given the freedom to address it."
The Milwaukee Police insist they're re-focusing on auto theft - and the're about to start using a bait car again.
They say the numbers will be down a year from now. Since the year 2000 -- Milwaukee's car theft rate has been higher than the windy city every single year...So we'll see if this year is better.
Meanwhile -- especially if you own a Nonda Civic or Toyota Camry -- police suggest you get one of those anti-theft devices like the club -- those are the most stolen cars in Milwaukee.
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