Cops Are Giving People Free Car Tracking Devices to Combat Thefts

The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., gave out free AirTags and Tile Trackers last week to some residents in an attempt to combat rising rates of carjacking in certain areas across the city.

To date, the city has seen 866 instances of carjacking, of which 637 involved a firearm, according to MPD data. The thefts have largely been concentrated in the east half of Washington, D.C. So far, 144 arrests have been made, and 65 percent of those arrestees were under the age of 18. 

Washington, D.C. has experienced a surge in both vehicle thefts and carjackings in recent months. These are distinct crime categories; a carjacking is when a car is stolen in the presence of the owner, mostly at gunpoint, while a vehicle theft is when a car is stolen while the owner is not present. 

The cause of the vehicle theft surge in D.C. is quite clear, and ties into a national trend. Many Kias and Hyundais manufactured between 2011 and 2021 are easy to steal because they were manufactured without a basic anti-theft device. Motherboard has reported extensively on this trend, known as the Kia Boys, and its causes. As part of that reporting, Motherboard filed a public records request with MPD for detailed vehicle theft data. From December 2019 to October 2022, no more than 32 Kias and Hyundais were stolen in any given month. Over the next six months, thefts rapidly increased, topping out at 368 stolen Kias and Hyundais in D.C. in May 2023 alone. More Kias and Hyundais were stolen in the first three months of 2023 than in the previous two years combined. Meanwhile, thefts of all vehicles made by every other car company remained relatively stable.  

The cause of increased carjackings is less clear. Carjackings are up 104 percent in D.C. over the prior year, according to MPD data.

“DC government purchased AirTags and Tile devices to provide them to community members who live in areas with the highest density of either Carjackings or Motor Vehicle Thefts,” MPD Sergeant Anthony Walsh told Motherboard in an emailed statement. “MPD provided devices on a first come, first serve basis while supplies lasted. No upcoming giveaways are currently scheduled. The community loved the idea and appreciated the device being gifted as another tool to help locate their vehicle, should the need arise.”

An informational page on the MPD’s website states that the resident will own the tracking device, and that only the resident will have access to the tag’s location data once they obtain it. 

“The device is yours to keep,” the page reads. “If your vehicle is stolen, you can log into your account and show the officer where your device is pinging.” 

The site also states that MPD cannot access the device’s location data on its own. “The device can only be accessed by the owner of the device,” the page states. “Participating in the program means you are pledging to share tracking data if your vehicle is stolen at a future date. [If your car is stolen,] report it. Call 911 and let the Office of Unified Communications dispatcher know that you[r] vehicle has a tracking device. When responding officers arrive, you will have to provide them with the real-time location of the device.” 

Walsh confirmed in his emailed statement that the MPD does not have direct access to the tag’s location data. “The device is the property of the owner and MPD has no ability to track any vehicle without the owner of the device logging into their application and relaying the real time location information to law enforcement officials,” Walsh wrote. “MPD is not accessing any data.  All information will be provided by the owner of the device.”

“People have every right to opt into this, but they should be fully informed,” said Matthew Guariglia, a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for data privacy rights. “That means asking questions about the exact terms that apply—for example, what the AirTag and Tile policies are regarding release of user data to law enforcement.”

Apple’s law enforcement guidelines state that the company “carefully reviews” law enforcement requests for information, and that location data such as that generated by the AirTag, in conjunction with the Find My app, can be obtained through a subpoena or “greater legal process” such as a search warrant. Tile’s parent company, Life360, writes on its website that law enforcement can only obtain customers’ geolocation data through a search warrant. Spokespeople for Apple and Tile did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

The MPD is not the first police department to roll out this kind of initiative. In April, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new program in conjunction with the NYPD to distribute 500 Apple AirTags to residents in the Bronx, which has a high rate of car theft. 

At a press conference announcing the NYPD’s initiative, NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told the audience that, “We will not have the ability to track any AirTag that we give away. What happens is once the owner realizes that their car is missing, for whatever reason, they call us and we'll look at their phone and we'll use their phone to track the vehicle.” 

“So we’re going to be clear on that. This is not a centralized tracking system where we are in charge of tracking someone’s car,” Adams said, speaking next. “If an owner gets a notification that their car is moving without their authorization, they will notify the police department who would automatically use that information, with the owner’s permission, to track the stolen vehicle.” 

A spokesperson for the NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking if the program had been successful.