Fun fact of the day: On average, 11 cars are stolen in Calgary each day. That’s bad news if you live in Stampede capital. And it’s even worse news if you own a Honda Civic, or a Ford or Dodge pick-up, because apparently, those vehicles are at the top of car thieves’ most wanted list.

But there’s good news. Police have been steadily using bait to catch the thieves. The bait? The cars themselves.

Find out how after the jump.

They have been putting these bait cars in high risk areas and equipping them with GPS, immobilizers, and cameras inside the car. A computer automatically notifies police when the car is broken into and the thieves are often caught in the act.

Whether or not this system actually works is up in the air. Calgary police claim car thefts have been reduced 17 to 32 percent since they initiated the program.

However a similar program in Winnipeg was scrapped to do the cost outweighing the benefits.

Forty percent of recovered vehicles were found with the keys still inside. So police are recommending, you know, not doing that anymore.

Since common sense is seemingly lacking in 40% of the victims, I’ll also add that locking your car doors also helps to prevent theft.