CAR THIEVES HAVE POTENT ENEMY IN LOJACK.

Byline: Theresa Moreau Daily News Staff Writer

With so many flashy cars plying the San Fernando Valley's streets, it's no wonder that it has become the car theft capital of Los Angeles.

For thieves, the most bountiful hunting grounds have proven to be Northridge and just about anywhere along the Valley's spine - Ventura Boulevard from Calabasas to Toluca Lake, police say.

But now crooks had better beware: There's a big gun in town, and its name is LoJack, an electronic tracking device that is hidden in cars and transmits a homing signal to police.

A new study by Yale and Harvard universities researchers shows that since LoJack was first sold in 1990, it is largely responsible for cutting thefts by nearly 20 percent across the city. Teletrac, a competing device, which was not studied, also is credited with helping the drop.

In Los Angeles County, authorities say 110,000 cars were reported stolen in 1995, but a year later that number dropped to 89,000.

``These types of thieves were untouchable before LoJack came on the scene. Now it disrupts the way thieves do the business,'' said the Yale researcher, law Professor Ian Ayres. ``A very, very small percentage of cars having LoJack has a big effect.''

The researchers found that crooks who steal LoJack-equipped cars in California are three times more likely to be captured and arrested than those who prey on cars equipped with other anti-theft devices.

Such success is not unique to California and Los Angeles.

For every three LoJack units installed, an estimated one theft is deterred. In Boston, the researchers found that the tracking device has cut thefts by half, from nearly twice the rate for comparable cities to slightly more than average.

Police agree.

``The thief today is more wary then he's ever been. They know LoJack's out there. They're more cautious,'' said LAPD Detective Ken Belt of the West Valley Division's Auto Theft Task Force.

With the aid of the anti-theft electronic devices, most stolen vehicles are recovered within a few minutes or a few hours.

And not only is the Los Angeles Police Department putting a dent in the number of car thefts, but with the aid of LoJack and Teletrac, police are also slowly ridding San Fernando Valley of a cottage industry - chop shops. These are places where cars are disassembled quickly for their parts.

``Any car that's equipped with LoJack and is stolen can ultimately be moved to a chop shop and will ultimately lead police to that chop shop,'' said John Raber, general manager for LoJack of California.

Since 1990, police have shut down 69 Valley chop shops, Raber said. ``We've gotten some big ones,'' he said.

Just last year, investigators assigned to the LAPD's Auto Theft Task Force tracked, with the help of LoJack, 18 chop shops operated by major auto thieves in the Valley, said Detective Bob Graybill, head of the West Valley Division's Auto Theft Task Force.

Thieves generally park stolen vehicles on residential streets to let them ``cool off'' for anywhere from a few hours to a full day before driving them to chop shops.

It's during this cooling-off period that police sometimes locate the vehicle, wait for the thief to return, follow the thief to a chop shop, then make their arrests.

A matter of time

Yale University's Ayres contended that LoJack is successful because eventually a professional car thief will steal a car with the system and will probably be tracked down by police.

Focusing mainly on unobservable devices, Ayres did not include Teletrac in his study because of the component's placement on a car's dashboard, therefore making it visible to thieves.

LoJack is secreted away in the vehicle.

For car owners on a budget, the one-time installation fee of $595 plus tax for LoJack is attractive, whereas installation for Teletrac generally averages around $1,300, with the monthly fee varying from $15 to $26.

And even when paying out for the system, the vehicle owner may reap financial benefits by means of insurance discounts.

``Insurance companies have been very supportive of LoJack,'' claimed Ayres.

But both systems, said police, are effective. And Teletrac does have advantages over LoJack.

LoJack's competitor

With Teletrac, a stolen vehicle can be pinpointed to an exact location, whereas LoJack can only be approximated to a general location - officers must drive in a grid formation to home in on the vehicle.

With LoJack, the owner of the vehicle must notify authorities of a theft, sometimes hours after the crime. But with Teletrac, the system automatically starts tracking when an alarm is triggered or when the vehicle is moved without authorization.

Ayres, who conducted his research on data retrieved from the country's 50 largest cities, noted that LoJack is also successful in deterring car thieves from theft in general. The main point, he said, is about ``unobservable precaution.''

``Because LoJack is hidden, thieves don't know if it's in my car or your car, and might get scared from stealing cars. Installing it in your car reduces the chances of other cars being stolen.''

Still, 89,000 stolen cars is a lot of cars. Police say a car is taken on average every 20 minutes in Los Angeles, and the Valley heads the list for most thefts.

``The San Fernando Valley is like a shopping mall for crooks who come over from outside the Valley,'' Graybill said.

The typical stolen car in Los Angeles is described as 3 years old, red or black in color, with an average value of $17,000.

The most frequently stolen car is the 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass, with a reported 1,402 thefts statewide, according to the California Highway Patrol, followed closely behind by the 1991 Honda Accord, with 1,298 reported thefts. The most popular truck to steal is the 1986 Toyota pickup, with a reported 1,504 thefts.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Charts

Photo: Detective Ken Belt shows an LAPD patrol car equipped with antennas to locate stolen cars using LoJack.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News

Chart: (1) Tracking stolen cars

(2) CAR THEFTS