New York is giving out free Apple AirTag devices to some residents, here’s why – Times of India

In a bid to curb car theft, the New York Police Department is offering free Apple AirTag to some residents. According to a tweet by the NYPD chief, the authorities want to combine “good old fashion police work” and technology to help recover stolen vehicles. “The 21st century calls for 21st century policing.AirTags in your car will help us recover your vehicle if it’s stolen. We’ll use our drones, our StarChase technology & good old fashion police work to safely recover your stolen car. Help us help you, get an AirTag,” reads the tweet.
According to a report by Apple Insider, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that 500 AirTags would be provided to residents in the 43rd precinct. The precinct, as per the report, has the highest levels of grand larceny auto cases. A non-profit called Association for Better New York is donating AirTag devices to residents.

How the police plan to use AirTag

The chief of patrol John Chell was quoted as saying “Your phone will be alerted. You know someone’s in your car who’s not supposed to be, and/or it’s stolen. You call 911 as fast as you can. You tell the officers involved ‘I have an AirTag, ‘and they will immediately with citywide apprehension apparatus will start putting that tag citywide.”
AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of the AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. There have been many cases where the AirTag devices have helped users in finding their lost/missing items, including automobiles. AirTag can be put into Lost Mode. Then, when it’s detected by a device in the network, users automatically get a notification.