GRANT TARGETS POLICE BAIT CAR

Dear Reader,
Thanks for visiting Milwaukeeworld. In today's posting, we look at all of the wonderful ways the city freely spends money on law enforcement -- especially when somebody else is buying. We learn about the "bait car" that could be parked in your neighborhood, maybe even with the ignition keys in it. Hint -- do not steal this vehicle. Then it is off to the Harbor of Milwaukee, where the Department of Homeland Security is about to present us with a boat, diving gear, and a fancy Ford truck. Finally, the city will also buy some equipment to help bust you a lot faster, once they catch you.

So, behave yourselves!
Best wishes,
Michael Horne

Editor / Publisher

horne@milwaukeeworld.com

1 414 978 8039


Who Do You Know Wants to Steal a Used 2000 Honda?
The Target Corporation has set its sights on the City of Milwaukee to increase the effectiveness of the Milwaukee Police Department's "Bait Car."
Target will donate "$1,200 to enhance the capabilities of the Bait Car program. ... Enhancements to be purchased with this money include GPS tracking, remote-operated alarms and a remote-controlled locking mechanism to detain a suspect," according to Common Council File #050988.
Bait cars usually include as standard features a camera and a remote engine shut-off system. The Target funds will really help us pimp this ride.
The bait car -- and who wouldn't be tempted by a 2000 Honda Accord? -- was itself a donation this summer from State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company "in order to assist in apprehending auto theft suspects."
Common Council File #050152 was authorized in May, 2005. It does not indicate the value of the automobile, but other sources show that the Honda Accord is among the most popular cars for thieves. Imagine that!
About the best suggestion I can give to would-be car thieves in Milwaukee would be to not steal cars.
But, if you go out and steal a 2000 Honda Accord, don't expect any sympathy from milwaukeeworld, since you have been warned. -- Michael Horne
P.S -- I have since discovered a website called www.baitcar.com that includes many videos of people getting busted in bait cars and bait trucks.

MILWAUKEE'S THRIVING PORT GETS ANOTHER BOAT!
The Department of Homeland Security wants to make sure the Port of Milwaukee is secure from impending attacks by sea, and has offered a grant to the city in the amount of $397,422 to purchase a patrol boat to ensure the safety of Milwaukee's maritime commerce, which includes such vital commodities as road salt, cement, coal, scrap iron and imported ballast water.
The patrol boat itself will cost $207,549, and it will be equipped with enough "individual diver equipment" to outfit 20 divers at a cost of $6,597 apiece, for a total of $131,940. That money will be used to purchase "dry suits, face masks, regulators, air tanks and pony bottles, dive computers and fins."
Another $24,333 will be granted to the city for miscellaneous extra Dive Team equipment, including underwater video and digital cameras, a laptop dive computer for when you simply must check your emails when submerged, alsong with lengths of rope and other maritime apparatus.
Homeland Security is also providing a "Harbor/Dive Specialty Vehicle" -- a 2005 White Ford Excursion pimped out with "two package, graphics, light bar, light bar (sic) siren control, siren speaker, gun rack and lock." -- Michael Horne

TIRED OF WAITING TO GET ARRESTED?
RapID CAN HELP
Are you tired of being handcuffed in the back of a squad car while the Milwaukee Police Department takes forever to positively identify you?
RapID could be just the solution you are waiting for. It will only cost $4,172 apiece to equip 93 patrol units with the devices, which will be paid for by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the City of Milwaukee's 2005 COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Technology Grant.
The $493,322 grant, which will not require city funds, "is to reduce crime and increase officer efficiency by providing funding to purchase mobile field identification units that will allow for the quick field identification of those individuals suspected of engaging in criminal activity," according to the terms of Common Council file #050995, scheduled to be voted on by the entire Common Council on Tuesday, December 13th. Each RapID unit comes with batteries ($118.75), battery chargers (80 of them, at $300 apiece) and RapID satchels ($149.00). One hundred fifty bucks seems like a lot for a satchel, and I doubt there's a cop on the force who's paid that much for a purse for his wife, or himself, unless Chief Hegerty has some Louis Vuitton obsession she's been hiding from us.-- Michael Horne