Police handing out Faraday bags to help prevent auto thefts

Windsor police are trying to help prevent auto thefts by handing out Faraday bags.

“They've proven to be effective which is why we decided to get on this initiative,” said Const. Jamie Fummerton.

Fummerton, from the auto theft unit, met with local dealerships this week and dropped off about 100 new Windsor Police Service issued Faraday bags.

“I think it's great to educate our customers and our employees,” said Lisa Jones, dealer principal at Joe Meloche Ford.

“They use it in Toronto, it’s very successful so they’re trying to bring it to Windsor to see if it’s going to work. You can put your key fob in it. You can put your charge cards inside.”

Const. Jamie Fummerton (right) with Lisa Jones, dealer principal, at Joe Meloche Ford in Windsor. Ont. (Source: Windsor police)

The bags block electromagnetic fields to prevent your keys from being cloned, and your car from being potentially stolen.

Fummerton says the cloning of key fobs is a big problem in this area.

“It's a simple way to prevent it. It might not be 100 per cent perfect, but it's a simple way to prevent them from attempting to clone your key fob.”

Members from the auto theft unit were on-site distributing free Faraday bags at the “Coffee with a Cop” event at Jerry and Jenny’s Diner at 11256 Tecumseh Road East from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

Members from the auto theft unit were on-site distributing free Faraday bags at the “Coffee with a Cop” event at Jerry and Jenny’s Diner in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Fummerton told CTV News he had already distributed over 600 faraday bags, with several hundred more available, noting two thousand additional bags have been ordered.

“I’m hoping to reach out to as many dealerships as we can, get as many of these bags out as we can to try to help our community out.”

He continued, “They're not a new product. They are available other places, you can get them on Amazon or online or from other manufacturers.”

Members from the auto theft unit were on-site distributing free Faraday bags at the “Coffee with a Cop” event at Jerry and Jenny’s Diner in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, April 12, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

“We do know Police Week will be May 16 to the 18th at Devonshire Mall. We will be there for sure handing these out. And again we have other ones that we will be posting via our social media platforms so to let the public know where and when we're going to be.”

Fummerton added, “We're also going to be looking at doing some training with auto technicians, other law enforcement agencies, other partners that are helping us out just so we can train officers, train the public so everybody can get on board to combat this initiative. Auto Theft is a problem and and we want to try and eliminate it or at least prevent it.”

For more information regarding auto theft and how to protect yourself, your business, and your loved ones, email [e-mail].