HOUSTON -- Houston police report 1,800 cars are stolen every month in Houston. Three years ago, the department deployed a high-tech tool to crack down on this type of crime.

Local 2 Investigates checked in on HPD's "bait car" program and found a 20 percent reduction in car theft.

"They're not petty criminals. They're not opportunistic criminals. They steal a car to commit another crime," said Sgt. Joseph Smith, who heads the department's "bait car" program.

HPD has a total of six "bait cars" deployed throughout the city. Smith said the department leaves these vehicles in areas where there have been a high number of car thefts and break-ins.

"We try to make them look as much as anyone else's vehicle as possible,' said Smith. "We'll put them anywhere. We'll put them in parking lots. We'll put them in neighborhoods. We'll put them in malls."

Each "bait car" is rigged with $6,000 worth of equipment that allows officers to monitor the vehicle from anywhere in the city via a laptop computer.

If a person even opens the door of one of these vehicles, officers get an alert on their cell phones.

From their laptop computers, officers can track a car's movement, control all the vehicle's electronics and can kill the engine.

"Bait cars" are also equipped with cameras to record everything that happens.

Once a "bait car" is stolen, patrol officers are notified and track it down. Police report the average time from a "bait car" being stolen to an arrest is six minutes.

If the crooks ditch the car before an officer arrives, then detectives use the video from inside the car to track down the thief.

Since January, the "bait car" program has led to 45 arrests, many of whom had prior criminal records.

The program is possible almost entirely through donations. With the exception of the officers' salaries, the electronic equipment for each car comes through a grant from the Houston Police Foundation. Insurance companies and seizures provide the cars. Also, $1 paid for every registration sticker goes toward the cost of the GPS tracking system and wireless computer air time.