Recover your stolen vehicle

Vehicle and related load theft continues to be a major issue in SA. According to CrimeStatsSA in 2019 already, theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles numbered 48 306, truck hijackings were recorded at 1 179 and car hijackings at 15 968.

Stolen vehicle recovery is still a major component in any telemetry service, says Wahl Bartmann, CEO of Fidelity Services Group, which recently launched its vehicle tracking company, Fidelity SecureDrive.

“Having a great recovery infrastructure of land and air support plus a well-developed crime intelligence network is simply not enough. The probability of recovery increases materially if the vehicle has a working telematics device that has not been found,” says Bartmann

Fidelity SecureDrive boasts one of the smallest telematics and stolen vehicle recovery units, enabled with the latest in advanced communications and artificial intelligence capabilities on the market. Advanced fitment techniques executed by Private Security Industry Regulation Act-registered security officers further improve the prospect of recovery.

Bartmann says it typically takes minutes to locate and remove most devices, resulting in poor stolen vehicle recovery rates. Furthermore, it takes less than an hour to strip most stolen vehicles for parts.

Considering this is the modus operandi for most stolen vehicles, rather than illicit export into neighbouring countries, time is of the essence.

“Robust covert installation processes limit this risk. Here the size of the unit is critical. The smaller the unit the easier it is to hide,” he says. “[Also], units such as those installed by Fidelity SecureDrive can be self-powered but provide the early warning alerts of traditionally wired devices. The art lies in creating a small unit with big capabilities.”

He adds the accuracy of the recovery unit is another critical feature. Three-metre pinpoint accuracy is critical in effective stolen vehicle recovery.

“Using technologies that do not require specialised hardware, such as radio frequency receivers, dramatically increases the number of on-the-ground recovery agents within a particular network or area. Using technology that is not reliant on radio frequency recovery, is therefore critical in expanding the recovery net and aids in greater overall recovery statistics,” he says. – Own Correspondent