LoJack Corporation (NASDAQ: LOJN), the global leader in tracking and recovering valuable mobile assets, announced it reached a milestone 1000th construction equipment recovery in the United States. The recovery, which took place in Newark, N.J., on Feb. 23, involved a stolen 2002 Ingersoll-Rand Loader, which was tracked and recovered by the Essex County Police using LoJack’s Stolen Vehicle Recovery System, the leading recovery system that is directly integrated into law enforcement vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
For this landmark recovery, the vehicle was actually tracked down in a mere 15 minutes via the Essex County Police use of the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System. Once the police report was filed and the LoJack system was activated, the officers quickly tracked the radio frequency signal to a location in Newark. Upon obtaining a search warrant to enter property, the officers found several pieces of stolen construction equipment, including the 2002 Ingersoll-Rand Loader and Flatbed Trailer, a 1999 John Deere Backhoe & Flatbed Trailer, a 2001 Komatsu Excavator & Flatbed Trailer and an Ingersoll-Rand Compressor. The three other units, which were not equipped with LoJack, were stolen from three separate locations. Police estimate the cost of the stolen equipment at $500,000 and stated that if the loader had not been equipped with the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System, the other units never would have been found.
“We’re pleased to reach this milestone and are proud of our ability to provide law enforcement with highly effective systems and processes that help combat the growing problem of construction equipment theft, which costs construction companies $1 billion each year,” said Joseph F. Abely, LoJack’s CEO. “LoJack’s direct integration with law enforcement and our system’s highly covert nature make it the most robust solution available and has enabled us to deliver a better than 90 percent success rate for nearly two decades.”
LoJack is the only stolen vehicle recovery system to be directly integrated with law enforcement. The company’s Police Tracking Computers are installed in police vehicles, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The LoJack system includes a small wireless radio-frequency transceiver that is randomly hidden in the equipment. Once the equipment is reported stolen to the police, the vehicle identification number is matched to the LoJack system by state law enforcement computers. After the match, the LoJack system is activated by police, emitting silent radio signals from a small radio transceiver. Law enforcement vehicles and aircraft equipped with LoJack have translated over the years into $1.5 billion in recovered assets in the United States.
