The Fresno County Jail now has more room for car thieves after the Fresno County Sheriff's Department got a $700,000 grant from the state.
The move puts more jail beds aside specifically for those criminals so they can't get out early.
Sgt. Len Sherman with the California Highway Patrol's HEAT Team said, "This is going to be one of the single most important things that's going to help us reduce the vehicle theft rate in Fresno."
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said, "What it will put in their mind is they may be the one targeted for that jail bed."
The City of Fresno's reported more than 2,400 auto thefts so far this year, which is an improvement over last year, but the HEAT Team, a multi-agency task force, wants to cut the numbers down even more.
"The word is already out that if you get caught by Fresno HEAT and get put in one of the HEAT beds, you're stuck," said Sgt. Sherman.
Funding for the extra jail beds is set to get renewed each year.
