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Ashland police purchased a bike worth $1,500 for the department's "bike bait" program. A person can be charged with a felony if he or she steals an item worth more than $1,000.

(Glory Cycles/Flickr)

Ashland police are spending big money to catch bike thieves — $1,500 to be exact.

Ashland police have been using "bait bikes" with tracking devices to catch bicycle thieves. The bait bikes have become a popular way to catch thieves, the Medford Mail Tribune reports, with officers making arrests within hours of setting up the bikes.

But now, the department is moving onto larger crimes – felonies. The department purchased its first bicycle worth $1,500 for the bait bike program. A theft reaches the felony level when the item taken is valued at $1,000 or more.

Elsewhere in the Northwest

A special needs student from Prosser became an honorary Kennewick police officer on Wednesday. The police chief conducted the honorary swearing-in ceremony. Karter Childers will be paired up with an officer to go on patrol for a couple hours. [Tri-City Herald]

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