The town of Washington D.C. will distribute free Apple AirTags to residents in sure neighborhoods, mayor Muriel Bowser introduced on Wednesday. The goal: to make stolen vehicles simpler for police to trace down.
“We’re equipping residents with expertise that can permit the [Metropolitan Police Department] to deal with these crimes, get well autos, and maintain individuals accountable,” Bowser mentioned in an announcement, “we’ll proceed to make use of all of the instruments we’ve got, and add new instruments, to maintain our metropolis secure.” Native publication DCist first reported the story.
D.C. residents in neighborhoods with the very best numbers of auto theft can be eligible to get free AirTags at three totally different occasions within the metropolis over the subsequent few months, beginning subsequent week. It’s not clear what number of AirTags, which price $29 a pop, can be given away.
Cops will assist residents put the AirTags of their vehicles and register them on their iPhones. If a automobile is stolen, residents might want to report the situation of the automobile because it seems in Apple’s FindMy app to regulation enforcement.
D.C. is the second metropolis at hand out free AirTags to make discovering automobile thieves simpler. Earlier this 12 months, New York Metropolis mayor Eric Adams introduced that town would give away 500 AirTags to make discovering automobile thieves simpler. Since then the NYPD has held a number of AirTag and Tile tracker giveaways, specializing in Kia and Hyundai homeowners, although it is unclear if these come from the identical provide introduced by the mayor.
AirTags, which Apple launched in 2021, have typically sparked controversy. Critics have mentioned that they let stalkers monitor victims silently with out their information — a security problem Apple finally addressed. However the gadgets have additionally been helpful, letting individuals maintain monitor of pets, checked baggage and stolen marketing campaign indicators.
