Tracker announces a doubling of support to the children of slain officers
The SAPS West Rand Radio Control Unit and Inspector Piet Stander of the SAPS Komatipoort Crime Intelligence Unit have scooped top honours at the 2008 National Tracker-SAPS Awards Ceremony held in Centurion (August 29, 2008).
The function honours those law enforcement officers and units whose efforts, in using Tracker’s technology, have over the past year made a significant impact on the recovery of stolen and hijacked vehicles and have thereby contributed to the fight against vehicle crime in South Africa. Tracker is the only vehicle tracking company in South Africa to formally partner with the South African Police Service, with its vehicle tracking technology installed in some 1100 police vehicles and 42 aircraft.
The event, traditionally attended by government ministers, high commissioners, various dignitaries from the SAPS and influential business leaders, pays tribute to the Top Individual Police Officers and Units, as judged by Tracker and senior police officials, over the past year. Below is the list of nominees for both categories:
Note: For the first time this year, Tracker conducted Regional Awards ceremonies throughout the country. Thus, the National Nominees below were selected from the winners of their respective provincial awards.
Overall Individual winner: Inspector Piet Stander - SAPS Komatipoort Crime Intelligence Unit
Top Individual Officers nominees:
Insp Lourens SAPS Maitland Dog Unit (Western Cape)
Insp P Marx SAPS East London Dog Unit (Eastern Cape)
Snr Supt G Nayager SAPS Sydenham (KwaZulu Natal)
Sgt R N Titus SAPS Upington Radio Technical Unit (Northern Cape)
Sgt M. Pienaar SAPS Bloemfontein Dog Unit (Free State)
Insp PRD Steyn SAPS Lichtenburg Dog Unit (North West)
Insp Jacobs SAPS West Rand Radio Control (Gauteng)
Capt EP Kelly Police Emergency Services Limpopo (Limpopo)
Insp Joubert SAPS West Rand Radio Control (Gauteng )
Overall Unit winner: SAPS West Rand Radio Control Unit
Top Unit nominees :
SAPS Maitland Dog Unit (Western Cape)
SAPS Mthatha Radio Control (Eastern Cape)
SAPS Durban South Highway Patrol (KwaZulu Natal)
SAPS Witriver Dog Unit (Mpumalanga)
SAPS Bloemfontein Radio Control (Free State)
Police Emergency Services Limpopo (Limpopo)
SAPS Kimberley Dog Unit (Northern Cape)
SAPS Rustenburg Radio Control (North West )
The recipients of the main awards each received a trophy and a certificate and a monetary donation was made on their behalf to a charity of their choice.
In addition to this and, for the first time in the history of the awards, the winners were awarded with an international trip to their choice of training seminars held and run by IAATI - the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators*.
They will have to decide between attending the first seminar to be held in Corpus Christi, Texas between the 6th and 10th of October this year. Or, alternatively, the larger international seminar in Denver, Colorado in August next year.
These officers will not only be able to learn new skills to better equip them in their fight against vehicle crime, but they will be able to bring their learnings back with them which they can then share with their colleagues.
* IAATI is a world body formed in 1952 to improve communication and co-ordination between various law enforcement agencies and nations working to combat vehicle crime across the globe. The organization collects valuable data from around the world that is even used by the likes of Interpol.
Says Tracker’s Chief Executive Officer, Alan Hutcheson: “After 12 years of working closely together we firmly believe that the Tracker-SAPS relationship is one of the most successful public-private sector partnerships ever seen in South Africa. Together, we have recovered more than 40 000 stolen and hijacked vehicles which has resulted in some 7400 arrests and the shutting down of over 300 chop shops and crime syndicates.”
“I would like to pay tribute to the selfless efforts of all those police officers who constantly risk their lives so that we may live in a better, safer South Africa,” commented Hutcheson.
Doubling support to the children
To pay tribute to the sacrifices made by police officers throughout South Africa, Tracker announced at the ceremony that it will be doubling its investment in the Tracker-SAPS Police Bursary Fund to R1-million a year.
The Fund provides tertiary merit bursaries to the children of police officers who have been lost in the line of duty and is currently helping to educate more than 30 students at universities and technikons throughout the country.
“Although there is nothing we can do to bring back these slain police officers, by providing their children with a meaningful education we are paying tribute to them and the ultimate sacrifice they paid in helping to combat crime in South Africa. We are enormously proud of the project and are elated to be able to double our annual contribution to R1-million,” commented Hutcheson.
Judges’ citations on the winners:
Top Police Unit: SAPS West Rand Radio Control Unit
The SAPS West Rand Radio Control Unit is ever willing to assist at any time with Tracker activations and always goes the extra mile to recover vehicles and perform arrests. Their passion for fighting crime and dedication to providing an excellent service to the community and Tracker has resulted in many vehicle recoveries and arrests.
Congratulations to the entire Unit for a stand out performance.
Top Individual Officer: Inspector Piet Stander - SAPS Komatipoort Crime Intelligence Unit
Inspector Piet Stander is a great asset to the South African Police Service. Using his informants’ network and combined with intelligence operations with Tracker and other role players, is what resulted in more than 48 vehicles, over and above Tracker-activated vehicles, being recovered. These operations also led to numerous arrests of suspects linked to other serious crimes. With the information that was gathered by him, it was possible to form crime patterns which led to further arrests. These successes would not have been possible without the Inspector’s intimate knowledge of the South African and Mozambican border areas.
Successes of the Tracker/SAPS partnership
The Tracker/SAPS partnership has been in place since 1996 and has made significant inroads in the fight against vehicle crime.
A. Tracker/SAPS vital stats
Over the past decade, the following has been achieved (based on Tracker’s customer base of some
550 000 vehicles):
Recoveries 40 876 *
Arrests 7498 *
Chop Shops and Syndicates exposed 303 *
* The most in Africa, by any vehicle tracking company.
B. Interesting Tracker/SAPS facts:
* Tracker and the SAPS have successfully recovered a Cape Town businessman’s vehicle 12 times over the past five years. Tracker submitted the case to Guinness in the United States believing it to be “The World’s Most Stolen Car”. However, an official from Guinness replied that no suitable category existed for the feat but was certain that it was a world record anyway.
* Several years ago, Tracker and the SAPS recovered a stolen vehicle and discovered cash boxes on the back seat carrying more than R20-million. The vehicle had just been used in a cash-in-transit heist minutes before.
* In addition to stolen and hijacked cars, the Tracker-SAPS partnership has recovered a wide array of stolen and counterfeit goods over the years including ice cream machines, solar panels, heavy-duty earth moving equipment, drugs, counterfeit fashion labels, illegal identity documents and passports and even wild game.
* Over the past decade, Tracker’s recoveries have saved the economy more than R4-billion in replacing stolen and hijacked vehicles alone.
* What do the following blockbuster films and famous book have in common: Gone in Sixty Seconds, Die Hard 4.0 and The DaVinci Code? They all carry references to LoJack - the global leaders in vehicle tracking and Tracker’s partners in the United States.
* Statistics reflect that more than half of hijacking cases reported to Tracker occur while people are leaving or arriving home.
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