OT Lo-Jack

[Panzer]

Q: If Lo-Jack is installed on a vehicle and it's stolen how do the cops locate "Lo-Jack"
By special tracking monitors?
If my vehicle is stolen with a Lo-Jack, do I call the Lo-Jack company and they call the local cops to start tracking?   Or does the Lo-Jack company track and advise the cops?
Just wondering how it works.

TIA

[Mi_RDGlide]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lojack

It looks like it only works in 27 states.

[marc]

I believe you have to report the car stolen and then the cops start tracking...I could be wrong though...

http://www.lojack.com/Pages/recovery-monitoring.aspx

[hotroadking]

Each lo-jack bike is equipped with special dog scented items.

If the local force uses Male dogs they place a scented female that time of the month bomb in the unit.

Once you call lo-jack it opens a trap door and the scent is released in the air

Cops take the dogs to the area the bike was parked and they then follow the females scent.

Problem is the stuff is hard to get off the bike,  usually when you get it back you're chased down by rabid packs
of horny male dogs...  Usually you can outrun them but stoplights are a bitch..

[GaryD]

Mi_RDGlide, Do you have a larger picture of your avitar? From what little I can make out I am laughing my a$$ off. 

[redrokit8]

You have to fax Lojack a copy of the Police Report and they will activate the signal.
Not all police crusiers are equipped with the recievers although Lojack will install them for free.
It's a hit or miss thing.
A standard practice is to heist a vehicle and put it in a cooling off location on the chance there is a Lojack transmitter in the vehicle or bike. After about a week or two of sitting undertected, it is considered safe to disassemble for parts.
You need 30 days of no recovery to collect from theft portion of your insurance policy.

[Mi_RDGlide]

Mi_RDGlide, Do you have a larger picture of your avitar? From what little I can make out I am laughing my a$$ off. 

[Rags722]

Panzer,
The lojack device emits a signal specific to the unit, much like the IP address of your computer.  Once the vehicle is stolen, either the police notify Lojack or you do ( not sure on that part of it).  Then Lojack pings the specific unit and it turns on and starts broadcasting.  The trick with lojack is the unit is hidden in the vehicle when installed and even the owner is not told where it is.  In a car, it could be a real bear to find, on a bike, not so hard.  Yes, lojack does give tracking devices to police at no charge, but not every community has every car ( or any car) equipped with the tracking unit.  Once the unit in your car/truck/bike is pinged and begins transmitting, you begin to rely on luck.  You need to hope a local cop does have the Lojack unit and that it is on, that he is not working an active crime, and that he isn't in an area that gets flooded with Lojack "hits".  If you satisfy all of those roadblocks, then you need to worry about state lines.  I don't know if it's true or not, but when they first came out, I was told one of the big problems was a stolen car could be sitting in Manahtten, and a Jersy City NJ cop car could be picking up a signal like mad, but the JC cop could not cross over into Manhatten to find the vehicle. Makes sense from a budget standpoint, why would you want your towns patrol car leaving it's coverage zone to track someone elses problem?  One statement made here is very correct. With the introduction of Lojack, rather than taking a stolen vehicle directly to a chop shop, they often park them out of sight for a week or so to make sure they are "cold".
Disconnecting the battery in the car does NOT disable Lojack.. they have their own internal power supply, and I guess it takes about a week to be sure the transmitter has shut down just to be safe.

Bottom line is check a Lojack coverage map reletive to where you are thinking about purchasing a system to see if it works for you.

Rags

[Panzer]

Thanks all, now I know.
Even the trap door and scent one makes. sense  LOL............geeeeeeze.
I wonder what the cost of that one is?

A tip-O-the hat to all