Vehicle tracking companies have recovered tens of thousands of vehicles since they started up just more than a decade ago. But not only do these companies find stolen cars, their staff also apprehend and arrest criminal suspects, locate chop shops and help the police break up syndicates.
Altech Netstar agents caught the elusive Annanais Mathe, who was on the run after escaping from prison in December last year.
Tracker takes credit for 6 500 arrests and busting 170 chop shops and about 100 syndicates.
Some analysts say that vehicle recovery technology, as well as better policing, has been highly effective in reducing the number of car thefts.
But crime analyst Antony Altbeker argues that criminals who find it harder to steal cars may have turned to robbery instead, pushing up robbery statistics as car theft figures have fallen in the past 10 years.
Police statistics show that motor vehicle and motorcycle theft has dropped from 96 859 thefts in 2001/02 to 85 964 in 2005/06. Car-jacking has also decreased from 15 846 incidents in 2001/02 to 12 825 in 2005/06.
Two firms dominate the vehicle recovery industry. According to the Competition Commission, in 2005 Altech Netstar had 46% of the market and Tracker had 40%. Each company protects about 400 000 cars, suggesting that almost one million vehicles use tracking technology.
There were about 7,4million vehicles on the road in 2006, according to driver safety campaign Arrive Alive.
Tracker and Altech Netstar report having recovered more than 30 000 vehicles each. Representatives of both companies said they had a recovery rate of roughly 85%.
Altech Netstar is the oldest tracking company, having started up 12 years ago, according to divisional manager of operations David Shipton.
He said that the industry grew rapidly when the insurance industry began to support vehicle tracking technology by offering reduced premiums and other incentives to vehicle owners who installed tracking devices.
There are a number of different tracking technologies available. Some tracking units rely on cellphone technology, such as GSM or GPRS, others rely on radio signals.
Tracker, for example, makes use of radio technology in its three different products. One product is activated by the company when a client calls in to report a stolen car.
Another detects movement in the vehicle and alerts the company when the vehicle is in motion. The company then contacts the vehicle owner to verify whether or not the vehicle has been stolen. The final product allows the owner to pinpoint the vehicle’s location on a map.
Tracker and Altech Netstar work closely with the police. Tracker has a formal partnership with the police, having won tenders to provide this service, said Tracker’s communication manager Gareth Crocker.
‘Wherever we can, we will involve the police,” he said. He said there are often Tracker cars and police vehicles at a recovery scene, which is especially important given that criminals often carry weapons.
Tracker’s goal is not only to recover the vehicle, but also to arrest the perpetrator.
Crocker said often criminals drive a stolen car to a ‘cooling off” spot and hide nearby. They then wait to see if the police or a tracking company arrive.
Tracker employees watch the stolen vehicle from an umarked car until the criminal returns, then they approach it. This increases the chance of arrest.
Altech Netstar also works closely with the police, although it does not have a formal agreement to do so, said Shipton. Police officers communicate regularly with Altech Netstar response teams. If Altech’s agents apprehend a suspect, they make a citizen’s arrest.
Shipton said one of the challenges in the industry is ‘staying one step ahead of the criminal element”. To keep its edge, the company continually improves its technology and finds ways to make the tracking unit smaller and easier to hide.
Criminals are increasingly aware of tracking devices and often begin looking for them soon after they have stolen the car. Shipton said that, even if the vehicle is recovered in 20 to 30 minutes, the interior could have suffered significant damage.
He said vehicles with a tracking device are not marked as it could lead to hostages being taken. Similarly, Crocker said Tracker does not inform its clients where their unit is so criminals cannot threaten them to find its location.