There’s no shortage of idiotic remarks by politicians. But this takes the cake.
And this leading Democrat made a brain-dead blunder you have to see.
Officials with the New York Police Department encouraged residents to install Apple AirTags in their vehicles to avoid thefts.
Auto theft has skyrocketed in New York City, as the yearly number of car thefts in the United States reached one million for the first time in almost two decades.
At a press conference on Sunday, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams said that residents should use AirTags, which are small disk-shaped devices that attach to keys, bikes, and other items to help police officers track stolen vehicles.
“This simple device, this simple AirTag, hidden in a car at a location that a person is not aware of is an excellent tracking device. It’s easy to monitor,” Adams said.
“As soon as we are notified about a grand larceny auto, and even if it’s days later, we can still track the car and find the person who’s driving and put a break on what we are experiencing in the city with grand larceny autos.”
AirTags are currently $29 and require a battery replacement once a year. On social media, NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey stated that officers would deploy drones and traditional police work to retrieve stolen cars using the AirTag.
Adams announced that the Association for a Better New York will provide 500 AirTags to people and that the city would collaborate with corporate partners to expand access to the technology.
“Your greatest investment is your automobile,” he continued. “It’s used for many different reasons: to get to and from your place of employment, to drop your children off every day, to deal with any medical procedures you may have.”
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, auto thefts in New York increased by 23% between 2021 and 2022.
Thefts have increased in, especially for select Kia and Hyundai vehicles, which lack electronic immobilizers that prevent criminals from bypassing the ignition in other companies’ vehicles.
According to an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety research, viral social media videos have trained juvenile thieves on how to steal the vehicles.
In the words of New York City officials, the rise in Kia and Hyundai thefts is due to the corporations turning a “blind eye” to the vulnerability.
“We have the right to expect that those cars have standard anti-theft measures,” Adams said last month.
“We’re going to hold Kia and Hyundai accountable for the public nuisance they’ve created and protect New Yorkers’ cars.”
Regardless, it’s incredibly embarrassing for New York to suggest that you need to buy an Apple AirTag or risk losing your car forever.
It won’t stop the theft, it just means a shot at getting your damaged car back.
What a joke.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
