WATCH: Cops Set Up “Bait Truck” In Low-Income Neighborhood To Entrap Poor People In To Stealing

 Chicago, IL — Police in Chicago have recently come under criticism  for setting up a “bait truck” in a low income area with the intent of  enticing people to steal from it. The truck was left wide open with  expensive goods like brand new shoes and appeared to be unsupervised.  But there were police watching just out of view, waiting to catch anyone  who might give into the temptation. Alderman Roderick Sawyer, 6th chair of the City Council’s Black  Caucus, pointed out that police in the city have more important things  to do than target low income neighborhoods with traps. 

“This bait truck operation is an unacceptable and inappropriate  use of police resources. In a moment where police capacity is clearly  under extreme strain, these sort of tactics are the last thing we should  be spending manpower and energy on,” Sawyer said. The operation was exposed by local activist Charles Mckenzie who recorded one of the arrests and posted it to his Facebook page. 

The operation was defended by Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for the  Norfolk Southern Railroad police, who said that these areas were  targeted because freight trucks have been burglarized there in the past. “The suspects saw a parked, unmarked trailer and then proceeded  to cut open the safety seal with box cutters, broke into the back of the  trailer and only then did they find retail shoes in unmarked brown  boxes, previously secured and hidden inside,” Terpay said in an email with the Chicago Tribune. 

One of the people arrested was a deaf man who can only communcate  through sign language. 

When he was arrested he told the officers that he  had entered the truck in search of food. Despite the excuses from the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police and the  Chicago Police Department, this situation is obviously a clear case of  entrapment. 

Entrapment is a legal term to describe the unethical law  enforcement tactic of pushing someone to commit a crime that they  otherwise would not have taken the energy themselves to carry out. Entrapment is “the conception and planning of an offence by an  officer, and his procurement of its commission by one who would not have  perpetrated it except for the trickery, persuasion or fraud of the  officer,” according to the legal precedent Sorrells v. United States. Obviously, if this truck was not parked in this neighborhood on this  day, it is highly probable that no freight heists would have taken  place. 

The strategy in place by local police seems to be a rudementary “minority report” system which seeks to prevent future crimes by taking “potential criminals” off the streets before they actually do anything. Karen Sheley, director of the ACLU of Illinois’ police practices  project pointed out that the Chicago police should be more concerned  with the wave of murders that the city has been experiencing. “Police in Chicago must focus on building trust and better  relationships within the communities they serve, not engage in stunts  like bait trucks. The Chicago Police Department admits that it can’t  solve murders and violent crimes because communities of color don’t  trust the Chicago police. These stunts won’t help,” Sheley said. The plan was even criticized by Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot, who is actually the former head of the Chicago Police Board. 

“Especially after a weekend with seventy shootings and  zero arrests, news of this bait truck operation is an appalling display  of misplaced priorities and a step backwards on the path to trust and  legitimacy,” Lightfoot said.

The operation was eventually called off when local residents realized  what was happening and chased the police out of their neighborhood. In one of the videos that residents took of the operation, one man who was being arrested can be heard saying, “They left a bait truck with … a lot of Nikes in there. Why would you all do that in the hood, though?” 

He raises a good question, it seems highly unethical to leave a truck  filled with expensive goods wide open in a neighborhood where people  are struggling to put food on their tables. There aren’t many people  alive who can resist that type of temptation when they are in a  situation like that one.