Jefferson Police Cars Get LoJack Car Recovery System

Stolen cars from Jefferson Township should be found more quickly now, thanks to the installation of the LoJack in three police patrol vehicles.

The system was installed in the vehicles at no charge to the township, with the stipulation that the vehicles that have the system are on the road at all times.

“We chose three vehicles, one unmarked and two of the new marked cars in our fleet,” said Jefferson police Sergeant Paul Castimore. “We chose the newest ones that we know will be in the fleet for the longest amount of time. All three of these cars are on the road 24/7.”

Here’s how it works: When a vehicle is reported stolen to the police department, the plate and vehicle identification number are reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer system. If the stolen vehicle has LoJack, the vehicle’s signal will be sent through LoJack’s network of radio towers to the department’s receiver, enabling police to know the exact location of the car.

According to Don Cavallo, LoJack’s law enforcement liaison, in the past five years, stolen car recovery rates have gone down from about 80 to 60 percent in New Jersey. The addition of LoJack to police vehicles is what helps keep the company’s success rate for recovering vehicles that have the system installed at about 92 percent in New Jersey and 90 percent nationwide, Cavallo added.

“We’re trying to work more closely with police departments to raise that overall stolen vehicle recovery rate,” Cavallo said.

While LoJack has been around for about 25 years, Jefferson Township decided to put the system in about a month ago, after police representatives met Cavallo at a convention.

“LoJack used to be concentrated more in areas that may have been considered higher crime areas,” said Jefferson officer Ivan Rodriguez.

“Now people use it for cars, motorcycles, construction equipment, farm equipment—anything that is motorized can use LoJack,” Cavallo said.

Training on the system consists of watching a 10-minute video, which all of the township’s officers will complete by the end of this week.