Victoria Police is planning to use GPS tracking to find stolen vehicles. The programme will be part of an opt-in trial. The vehicle owners will be allowed to join the programme which will involve the installation of a hidden GPS tracker in their vehicles. The tracker will be provided free of cost by the Police. The project is funded by the Australian government.

The installation will be done by vehicle dealerships in the beginning. The government is working with vehicle manufacturers to retrofit tracking devices.

Vehicle owners who have opted-in to the initiative will be able to synchronize the tracker to their smartphone which will send an alert if it is moved from a set location.

If the vehicle get stolen, the app can be used to notify the Police. The police will be able to track the vehicle location real time and wait for a safe moment to intervene and apprehend the thief.

The program is expected to reduce car theft and deter would-be thieves. The tracking devices are the small in size which means they can be hidden anywhere on the car. Thieves won’t know where to look for the device, or which vehicles have the technology installed.