One year after announcing an auto tracking program, Aurora Police Department launched MetroTrack on Thursday, which allows residents who opt in to give the department permission to track their vehicle if it’s stolen.

Aurora initially announced the program last July. But police officials decided the division was not ready to launch the program at the time and opted to wait until this year, according to an APD spokesperson.

MetroTrack is free and optional, according to a news release from APD. Aurora residents who enroll in the program get a GPS tracking device, either an Airtag or Chipolo tracker, installed in their vehicle. For people with a vehicle assistance program, like OnStar, that comes with a tracking system, APD will enroll them using that system.

The department cannot access a vehicle’s GPS information without the owner’s explicit consent, the press release said.

In addition to the tracking device, program participants will also get two stickers to put in the corners of their driver’s side and passenger’s side windows to act as visual theft deterrents, telling possible thieves that the car can be tracked by police.

To enroll in MetroTrack, residents have to have valid car registration and insurance. There is a limit of two tracking devices per household, according to the press release.

Aurora City Councilmember Curtis Gardner sponsored MetroTrack in Aurora, following several years of increases in car theft across the state. In 2021 and 2022, Colorado ranked first in the number of car thefts per capita, according to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center.

Aurora has seen a decline in car theft in recent years, with police officers responding to more than 3,500 reports of stolen cars in 2024, down from over 5,200 the year before and almost 6,800 in 2022.

As of March 31, Aurora police have received 596 reports of stolen vehicles this year.

Despite the decline in Aurora, Gardner said car theft is still a “significant issue” in Aurora and across Colorado.

“Our community members rely on their vehicles for common, everyday necessities,” Gardner said. “The goal of MetroTrack is to provide our officers with the technology they need to help victims recover their vehicles as quickly as possible to minimize, or hopefully eliminate, any impact on their daily lives.”

Program sign up information is available on Aurora’s MetroTrack website.

Denver has a similar program, DenverTrack, that has over 4,000 registered participants