Submitted by Fox First at Ten on October 25th
KHQ.COM - The number of property crimes is soaring in our community. It is so bad in fact, KHQ decided to run an experiment. Right now, we are streaming a live picture of the inside of a car under the assumption it will fall prey to a smash and grab burglary.
The timing of our experiment is no accident. During the fall, the number of vehicle break-ins and thefts go way up. Police tell us when the sun goes down earlier and the temperatures start to fall, thefts go on the rise. And when people start to heat up their cars and go back inside their homes, it opens the door even wider for criminals.
It's the aim of KHQ's Center for Investigative Action to try get inside the minds of these brazen criminals. We want to see how they do what they do, when they do it and why.
We took a look at the crime map on the Spokane Police Department website and placed a vehicle right in the heart of one of the high crime neighborhoods. We wired that vehicle with a nightvision camera, and inside we left a few of our personal belongings. One of those personal belongings has a tracking device, so if someone takes that item we will know exactly where they go.
We don't know what will happen with this story, but our goal is for all of us to learn something and maybe, if we're lucky, we'll take one more criminal off the street.
Also, a special thanks to Russ Spalding and Spalding Auto Parts for their help in providing us with a vehicle for this story.
