High-Tech System to Track Stolen Cars Stirs Capitol Furor

A bill that would establish a $1-million pilot program in Los Angeles County to test a high-tech system for tracking stolen cars has triggered an intense lobbying fight between law enforcement agencies pushing for passage and critics who say the measure is a special-interest proposal.

The bill by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) sailed through the Senate on a 33-0 vote in June. But in recent weeks it has encountered mounting opposition among Assembly members, who may vote on the proposal as early as today. Some decision on the measure must be reached before the Legislature adjourns for the year Wednesday.

Lobbying on the bill recently intensified as a Chatsworth firm that manufacturers automobile security equipment retained a Sacramento lobbyist to oppose the measure. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department and Sheriff’s Department have been drumming up support for the proposal.

Davis said his measure is in “serious jeopardy,” especially since the legislation requires support from two-thirds of the 80-member Assembly.

The Davis bill would set up a stolen-vehicle tracking system in which police use high-tech electronics, computers and radio transmissions to find stolen cars. The system is modeled after a Massachusetts program where authorities have used equipment from LoJack Corp. of Braintree, Mass. Once the system is in operation, police could activate transmitters placed in cars to track them if they are are stolen.

The bill would earmark $1 million to purchase computer equipment and outfit 200 police and sheriff’s cars with the tracking equipment. People who purchase the device would pay an additional $20 fee to reimburse the state treasury.

LoJack’s transmitters would cost about $600 apiece. Davis said North American Rockwell also has a similar system used by a railroad and the military, but he understands that it would be more expensive than LoJack’s.

Lobbyist Hired

Clifford Electronics, a Chatsworth manufacturer of auto security systems, has retained Sacramento lobbyist Bernard Teitelbaum to oppose the measure, and he was lobbying Assembly members Thursday.

Clifford Electronics has also persuaded Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) to seek amendments that would encourage other firms to bid on the contract to manufacture the computer system for police. The amendments would also force the winning bidder to provide free use by other companies of any patented material in the transmitters. Costa said that as the bill is currently fashioned, only LoJack “can successfully compete for the contract. I think that’s really unfair.”

In an interview, Ze’ev Drori, president of Clifford Electronics, said he does not oppose the concept of the bill. But he asserted that the bill is “tantamount to handing a virtual monopoly on the auto recovery system to an out-of-state corporation at the expense of the California consumer and taxpayer.” Drori said his firm does not manufacture the equipment but has the ability to produce it.

Letter of Support

In a letter supporting the Davis bill, David Dotson, assistant Los Angeles police chief, said that his department has conducted extensive research and that the LoJack system “remains the only operating stolen vehicle recovery system.”