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Carjack Counterstrikes: A History of LoJack
Carjack Counterstrikes: A History of LoJack
Carjack Counterstrikes: A History of LoJack
Carjack Counterstrikes: A History of LoJack
Racing across the city to assist other officers in locating a stolen car was my first exposure to LoJack.
That was in the early 1990s, and the LoJack technology was still a relatively new tool for law enforcement. The training officer I was riding with explained how the technology worked, and in that pre-cell-phone world, it seemed like science fiction. On that night, the stolen car was recovered and a carload of gang members went to jail.
Fast-forward to today, and LoJack is still helping to recover stolen and “carjacked” cars and put criminals in prison. With more than 150,000 stolen cars worth nearly $2 billion recovered in the U.S., it is hard to argue with the company’s success. Currently, LoJack is doing a lot more than just recovering stolen cars. The company now helps locate Alzheimer’s patients, track cargo shipments and recover stolen laptops.
VEHICLE RECOVERY
LoJack continues to offer a vehicle recovery option that works much the same as it did years ago. The vehicle owner installs a hidden radio transceiver on the car, truck or motorcycle. If the vehicle is stolen, the transceiver will receive a remote command to start transmitting once the vehicle is entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as stolen.
LoJack offers police departments special receivers that are mounted in patrol cars or in airborne units. When the stolen car passes within several miles of one of these units, the receiver will alert the officer of the direction and approximate distance of the stolen car. While officers track the car, dispatch is able to confirm the information provided on the LoJack receiver and obtain vehicle information including the make, model and color. Officers can then follow the signal to the stolen car.
In addition to helping officers locate stolen cars more quickly than otherwise, the system allows officers to coordinate backup officers to contain a suspect vehicle. This can help prevent a pursuit that may start when a solo patrol officer stumbles onto a stolen car.
In addition to consumer vehicles, LoJack can help officers recover commercial vehicles and construction equipment. The theft of construction equipment can have a significant impact on a company and a local economy. Replacing the equipment is expensive, and while the company waits on the new machines to arrive, work can slow or even grind to a stop.
The ruggedized system works much like the LoJack system designed for consumer vehicles. Recovery of commercial vehicles and construction equipment with LoJack equipment has been substantial. During the past 10 years, more than 3,500 pieces of equipment and vehicles have been recovered. In the U.S. alone, more than $120 million of LoJack-protected assets have been recovered. These numbers do not include any additional stolen equipment that was not protected by LoJack, but was recovered due to tracking of the LoJack-protected equipment.
The post Carjack Counterstrikes: A History of LoJack appeared first on Tactical Life.