New York Police Department Encourages Car Owners to Use AirTags to Deter Theft, 500 Free AirTags Available

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is encouraging New York car owners to install Apple AirTags in cars in order to cut down on car theft in the city.

airtag cyber
In a tweet shared over the weekend, the NYPD said that "the 21st century calls for 21st century policing," and that an AirTag in a car will help officers recover a car if it is stolen. An accompanying video instructs car owners to get an ‌AirTag‌ and install it in a location in the vehicle where it can't easily be found.

The video then demonstrates a car theft where the owner uses the Find My app to track the car, with the tracking information relayed to the police. Officers find the car thanks to the ‌AirTag‌ and are able to recover the vehicle and arrest the thief.


"Safe guard your car by simply putting an Apple ‌AirTag‌ inside of it," the NYPD writes at the end of the video. The ‌AirTag‌ initiative comes after a viral TikTok car theft video that caused an uptick in thefts across the United States. In the TikTok, thieves demonstrate how to get into Hyundai and Kia vehicles through an easily accessible exploit.

In an accompanying press conference on Sunday, New York City mayor Eric Adams said that the city will provide 500 free AirTags to car owners. According to CBS News, the AirTags are available to residents in Castle Hill, Soundview, and Parkchester, as these areas have seen a 548 percent increase in stolen Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

noraa Avatar
29 months ago

“Free”

Yeah you know the cops are tracking you too if you take one of those

Why does anyone still live in NY?
Not sure you understand how AirTags work. They’re tied to your Apple ID, only you can track your AirTag (unless you give someone your Apple IR credentials - which if you’re giving the police you’re info than you’re just being dumb).

You can’t bind an AirTag to more than one Apple ID, so it’s not like the police could bind the AirTag to a NYPD Apple ID, and then give it to you and act like it’s not already bound to an Apple ID.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robbysibrahim Avatar
29 months ago

“Free”

Yeah you know the cops are tracking you too if you take one of those

Why does anyone still live in NY?


Plus if you film them steal it, track it to the hood rats dwelling, call the cops, $5 says they won’t do anything, but go 11mph over the speed limit, or don’t have one of their “inspection” stickers clogging up your windshield and they’ll be on it like flys on..we’ll NY
All of this is wrong. And I'll add, the LAPD recovered my stolen motorcycle the same day because I had an AirTag on it.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Little Endian Avatar
29 months ago
Despite all the obstacles that Apple implements to deter it is still possible to use an AirTag for theft tracking purposes on a car. A thief will only get a notification they are being tracked if they have an iPhone. On Android you actually have to download an app and manually check. Also depending on the situation there is a time buffer between when a thief would get tracking notification or an airtag starts making sound. A small window of opportunity to track is better than none at all.

Even if they do realize they are being tracked there are endless places to hide one that would take time for a thief to find. Hiding one in an engine bay, inside a bumper cover, take apart dash, take apart rear seat, inside trunk under the liner or in spare tire well etc. Hiding an AirTag good enough to the point where disassembly of parts of the vehicle may buy enough time for it to be located after being stolen.

If you make the AirTag frustrating to find and get to the thief may also just get spooked enough to abandon the car. In that case them knowing they are being tracked might be a good thing.

Anyhow my vehicle already has built in GPS tracking from the factory. I keep an AirTag hidden in the car for extra peace of mind.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
noraa Avatar
29 months ago

NY only does things that benefit NY

and as it stands the police don’t care about your stolen car or many of the attacks which can’t be discussed in NYC

So I wouldn’t trust it, not sure how, but nooope
Are you speaking from experience? Do you live in NY (or have lived in NY)? The NYPD are far, far, far from perfect (for so many reasons), but you’re pretty much just speaking out of your ass right now.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclardy Avatar
29 months ago

“Free”

Yeah you know the cops are tracking you too if you take one of those

Why does anyone still live in NY?


Plus if you film them steal it, track it to the hood rats dwelling, call the cops, $5 says they won’t do anything, but go 11mph over the speed limit, or don’t have one of their “inspection” stickers clogging up your windshield and they’ll be on it like flys on..we’ll NY
You can’t even share an AirTag with an iCloud family member, no way it can be shared with NYPD.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fenderbass146 Avatar
29 months ago
Or...maybe just maybe, we could be tough on crime again instead of releasing criminals back onto the streets almost immediately.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)