LOJACK CAR SYSTEM EXPANDS INTO REGION.Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer Starting on Tuesday, auto thieves in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, will have nowhere to hide. LoJack - which allows law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is a term used to describe any agency which enforces the law. This may be a local or state police, federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). to electronically track stolen vehicles equipped with the homing device Noun 1. homing device - the mechanism in a guided missile that guides it toward its objective guided missile - a rocket-propelled missile whose path can be controlled during flight either by radio signals or by internal homing devices - is making its way to Ventura County, which means the company's network will cover all of Southern California, said John Raber, general manager of LoJack of California. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County implemented the vehicle-recovery system eight years ago; Orange and San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. counties have had it for three years; and Riverside and San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. counties came aboard about a year, Raber said. ``We went county by county,'' he said. ``We went after the markets that had the biggest auto-theft problem.'' LoJack donated the monitoring equipment to Ventura County law enforcement agencies, and for the last year has been erecting broadcast towers throughout the area. Fifty patrol cars and the sheriff's helicopters now have devices that will alert them whenever a homing device activates, said Capt. Keith Parks of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. . With all of Southern California now covered by the system, police ``can track anywhere from here down to the Californian-Mexican border,'' Parks said. ``It'll be pretty helpful.'' For a $595 fee, LoJack installs the homing device in one of 20 randomly selected places in the vehicle, Raber said. If the car is stolen, the owner notifies police who enter the information into the state's computer database, activating the hidden homing beacon A homing beacon is a device that allows the user to track a ship, an animal, or another individual. Depending on the beacon, the range can be as short as a hundred meters, or, in science fiction, allow for tracking a ship through hyperspace. , Raber said. The signal then alerts law-enforcement units equipped with a LoJack tracking device that a stolen car is nearby. ``It's like a network of cars and helicopters,'' he said. ``Every agency is participating.'' Law enforcement agencies have recommended that LoJack not provide customers with stickers or decals to alert potential thieves about the system, Parks said. Police would rather have thieves steal the vehicle, so the perpetrators can be tracked down and arrested. ``The real key factor is you catch the people with the car,'' Parks said. Because of Lojack, some thieves have taken to stealing a vehicle, driving it to a nearby location and letting it sit for a day or two to make sure it does not have a homing device, Raber said. In the eight years the LoJack system has been in operation in Los Angeles County, 92 percent of LoJack-equipped cars were recovered, Raber said. The transmitters also led police to 80 chop shops during that same time, he said. Of the 2,125 vehicles stolen in Ventura County in 1997, 1,721 were recovered, Parks said. ``What a bonus this is for investigative purposes,'' he said. That's a detective's dream.'' |
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