Virginia cops are using rare Pokémon as bait to catch criminals

Pokemon Go has proved useful to cops. — (Image credit: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

If you've recently committed a felony and are now on the lam, here's a tip: Beware of rare Pokémon, as they might be a trap.

At least, they might be in Smithfield, Virginia, where the local police department is attempting to lure people with outstanding arrest warrants to the police station through Pokémon Go. The specific monster Smithfield police say is in their processing room, Ditto, is presently the subject of intense speculation, as no verified Ditto captures have yet occurred, and some believe Ditto is actually uncatchable at this time.

So far, Smithfield PD has been unsuccessful — but you've gotta catch 'em all, right?

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.