(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With the number of carjackings in Cook County on pace to surpass 2021’s record, the Cook County Sheriff has urged drivers to sign up for a program that makes it easier for police to track stolen vehicles.
Under the program, drivers fill out a consent form, which gives their vehicle’s manufacturer permission to release real time location data to the Cook County Sheriff.
The program relies on technology already within many vehicles, which allows manufacturers to track them.
Roe Conn, with the sheriff's office, said drivers who sign up also get special vehicle stickers.
“They can get a window sticker that they put up either on the front or the back window — we suggest both — so that a would-be carjacker, as they’re approaching the vehicle, can see the sticker and then realize that this car is trackable by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office,” Conn said. “Hopefully that dissuades them.”
Conn said General Motors has already agreed to help police track stolen vehicles without requiring owners to give permission, but he added other manufacturers have not.
“Many manufacturers choose not to do it, and they have varying reasons for it, but … when you have a situation like you do here in Chicago and in Cook County — where you have these multiple cars every day getting carjacked — we gotta do something about it,” Conn said.
He said when police have to wait for permission, it delays finding carjacked vehicles and reduces the chances that the thieves will be caught.
Conn said drivers who live in Cook County can sign up on the sheriff's website to give police permission to track their vehicles.
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