Anti-Car Theft Units a Tough Sell in O.C. : * Security: Makers of innovative tracking systems for stolen vehicles find the county market tough to break into.
In a chilling scenario, a man in a recent radio advertisement tells the audience how an armed bandit stuck a gun in his face and took off with his Mercedes-Benz.
Fortunately, the victim’s automobile was equipped with the LoJack tracking device, which is connected to the Sheriff’s Department. Two hours later, he got his automobile back and the crook was on his way to jail.
Good thing he didn’t live in Orange County.
While car owners in Los Angeles County are equipping their wheels with the latest in anti-car theft devices--remote tracking units linked directly to law enforcement agencies--the companies that manufacture and distribute the products find the Orange County market tough to break into.
Licensing and financial roadblocks have prevented Orange County car owners from hooking up en masse to remote tracking systems, considered by some in law enforcement to be the ultimate in car theft prevention.
LoJack and Teletrac are the most well-known of these devices, but only Teletrac is offered in Orange County. However, its popularity has yet to take off, and local alarm companies say that they sell very few.
“As a matter of fact, we’ve almost stopped selling it,” said Don Cliver, owner of Orange County Mobile Alarms Co. “I don’t know if it’s the price or what.”
The Teletrac system, licensed by International Teletrac Systems Inc. in Inglewood, costs $595 per unit--about $200 more than a conventional car alarm--and has a $15-per-month service fee. That extra charge, some dealers say, is scaring customers away.
“It’s not selling because it’s very expensive,” said David Wilkinson, owner of Wilkinson Auto Security in Laguna Niguel.
In fact, he said, virtually all Teletrac sales at his shop have been to owners of luxury or collectible cars. Most car owners shun the system altogether, preferring conventional alarms or even inexpensive alternatives, such as the Club, a customized steel bar--selling for about $50--that locks a car’s steering wheel, making it impossible to steer.
“Right now, it’s so much money that (the majority of car owners) don’t want to touch it,” said Wilkinson, who acknowledged, nonetheless, that Teletrac is “the wave of the future” and is slowly gaining popularity in Orange County.
Law enforcement officials in Orange County also balk at the start-up costs associated with the Teletrac system. Although Teletrac provides the software, police agencies are required to purchase computer systems costing thousands of dollars.
Most police agencies said they do not have enough surplus money in their budgets to buy the needed equipment.
Since Teletrac’s introduction in early 1991, company representatives have approached most Orange County law enforcement agencies, persuading some, including the Santa Ana Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, to test the system free of charge.
But so far, only Huntington Beach has bought into the system, which is manufactured locally by Mitsubishi International Corp. in Cypress. Kenwood USA Corp. and Audiovox also manufacture the device for Teletrac.
Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Bill Peterson said the department is satisfied with the system, calling it extremely accurate and able during tests to pinpoint within 50 feet police units equipped with a Teletrac device.
But, he added, his department has yet to track an actual stolen vehicle since the system was purchased last July.
In fact, the only time a Teletrac device was activated in Orange County was in September, 1991, when a gunman hijacked a car equipped with a unit. Garden Grove police, with the aid of Teletrac, found the car and caught the bandit.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the largest law enforcement agency in the county, is not persuaded of the value of Teletrac and has recently dismantled its demonstration system.
“It was going to cost us a great deal of money,” Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said. Although he did not know the exact cost of the computer system necessary to drive the Teletrac software, he said it would cost the county “several thousands of dollars. We just didn’t have the money. That’s all there is to it.”
LoJack, manufactured by LoJack Corp. of California in Los Angeles, is also priced at $595 per unit but does not require a monthly service fee, said Terry Soley, general manager for LoJack’s California operations.
LoJack is prohibited from operating outside Los Angeles County, however, under a licensing agreement with the state Department of Justice. LoJack is licensed because it taps into the California Telecommunications System, which provides stolen-car information to local police agencies.
LoJack is now in the second year of a three-year trial period, after which state law enforcement officials will determine its effectiveness and decide whether to allow expansion, said David Puglia, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office.
LoJack, first offered in Massachusetts in 1986, began operating in California in October, 1990, under an agreement with the Los Angeles Police Department and 46 other Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies.
Once activated, a LoJack device can be tracked via screens inside police cars. The black box, about the size of a chalkboard eraser, emits signals that can be picked up within a five- to 25-mile radius.
So far, Soley said, the results have been promising. Since its inception in Los Angeles, LoJack has responded to 190 stolen-car reports. Of those, 90% of the cars have been recovered.
Soley said his company has been lobbying unsuccessfully to persuade the attorney general’s office to grant the system early approval to expand to new territories.
But despite an impressive recovery rate, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren wrote in a Jan. 24 letter to LoJack that “at the present time, we have concerns about the lack of documentation that would demonstrate the effectiveness” of LoJack.
Puglia added that there appear to be no inherent problems with LoJack but that the state intends to stick by the original timetable.
The state’s response is, predictably, disappointing for LoJack.
“It’s frustrating we still can’t offer the product (within Orange County),” Soley said.
He added that the LoJack radio ad, which doesn’t specify that the system can be used only in Los Angeles County, has drawn a large response--about one in four callers--from Orange County car owners.
Teletrac, on the other hand, does not need law enforcement licensing because it operates on its own radio frequency, said Ronald May, group manager for Teletrac consumer services in Inglewood.
Although the Teletrac system is sold by more than two dozen car alarm companies and electronics stores in Orange County, the company apparently has yet to persuade law enforcement that it is worth the investment.
Teletrac works even if a local police department does not have the system at its headquarters, May said.
Unlike LoJack, the signal from a stolen car is sent directly to Teletrac’s 24-hour monitoring station in Inglewood, which has a greater signal range and allows stolen cars as far south as San Clemente to be detected, May said.
Teletrac dispatchers either call the nearest police station and direct the chase from Inglewood or patch the signal into a police station’s Teletrac computer unit, if one exists. May said he hopes an ambitious ad campaign planned for next month will generate interest in Teletrac. As Teletrac becomes more popular--and the price begins to drop--the market should expand to owners of lower-priced cars as well as well-to-do car owners, he said.
LoJack Vs. Teletrac
In the battle of auto theft recovery systems, LoJack and Teletrac are going head to head for control of Southern California. A comparison of the two systems:
LoJack
Entered California market: July, 1990
Counties: Los Angeles
Ownership: Publicly traded
Cost to consumer: $595
How it works:
* Victim reports theft to local police.
* Theft is entered into state stolen vehicle computer system, activating LoJack unit in stolen car.
* Local police units with mobile computers track stolen car.
Guarantee: If vehicle is not recovered within 24 hours of report time, LoJack promises to refund the price of the LoJack unit.
Teletrac
Entered California market: February, 1991
Counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino
Ownership: Privately owned
Cost to consumer: $595 plus $15-a-month service fee
How it works:
* Theft of car automatically triggers homing device hidden in vehicle.
* Signal is transmitted by 900-MHz radio band to Teletrac control center in Inglewood.
* Teletrac reports theft to local police department. If police department has computer system, it logs onto Teletrac. If not, Teletrac directs police units to location of stolen vehicle by telephone.
Guarantee: If Teletrac vehicle is stolen and not recovered, or is declared a total loss, Teletrac will generally cover the difference between the price of a new car and the insurance settlement.
Source: International Teletrac Systems Inc., LoJack Corp. of California
Researched by JAMES M. GOMEZ and DALLAS M. JACKSON / Los Angeles Times
From Rip-Off to Recovery Auto thefts have been rising for the past five years in Orange and Los Angeles counties. More than six times as many vehicles are stolen in Los Angeles County than in Orange County, but the recovery rate there is 16% higher than in Orange County. ORANGE COUNTY % Recovered 1987: 79% 1988: 78 1989: 76.6 1990: 75.3 1991: 71.4 LOS ANGELES COUNTY % Recovered 1987: 89.8% 1988: 89.5 1989: 89.2 1990: 88.5 1991: 87.5 Orange County About 94% of the 3,326 vehicles stolen in January and February were passenger cars and personal trucks. Roughly three out of four stolen cars, two out of three trucks and one out of three motorcycles were found. Stolen Vehicles Automobiles: 2,221 Motorcycles: 98 Personal trucks: 921 Other*: 86 Recovery Rates Automobiles: 76.4% Motorcycles: 37.8% Personal trucks: 67.8% All vehicles: 72.0% * Includes commercial trucks, recreational vehicles and trailers Source: California Highway Patrol Researched by DALLAS M. JACKSON / Los Angeles Times
