D.C. cops give away free AirTags trackers to combat carjackings

The District of Columbia Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., this week launched a pilot program to give away free AirTags and Tiles tracking devices to citizens, as the U.S. capital has seen a recent surge in auto thefts.

Under the program, police officers will help car owners securely hide the devices in their vehicles and connect them to their phones, after which the owners will have access to information about the position of their cars. In return, they pledge to provide police with the trackers’ information in the event of a theft.

According to MPD Assistant Chief Pamela Smith, more than 1,000 car owners have already become participants in another anti-theft program (wheel locking) and several thousand more have signed up for the program to install video surveillance cameras near their homes, receiving a $500 discount.

At the same time, MPD assured that only project participants will have access to the trackers, which at the same time implies their cooperation with the police. However, some program participants may have questions about how their confidential information will be used by law enforcement.

You may be interested: Illegal border crossings into the US drop in October after a 3-month streak of increases