Tracker celebrates record milestone

Special tribute paid to the SAPS

 

In what is widely believed to be a record achievement for the sub-Saharan vehicle tracking industry, Tracker is today celebrating its 10 000th arrest.

 

The milestone was achieved after a stolen vehicle was recovered in Mondeor, South of Johannesburg, over the weekend. The suspect was detained at the Mondeor police station.

 

“Reaching the 10 000 arrest milestone ranks as one of the most important and gratifying moments in our history. We are enormously grateful to the courageous members of the SAPS, with whom we have a formal partnership, as well as our own recovery crews situated all around the country,” says Alan Hutcheson, Tracker’s Chief Executive Officer.

 

Believed by many to be one of the most successful private-public sector partnerships ever seen in South Africa, Tracker’s recovery technology is fitted to more than 1200 police vehicles and almost 50 aircraft. Working together, an average of almost 500 stolen and hijacked vehicles are recovered every month in South Africa.

 

“Although we operate in a highly competitive industry, one of our key differentiators has always been our desire to arrest the criminals responsible for vehicle crime. It’s one thing to recover a stolen vehicle – it’s quite another to ensure that the criminal responsible is not able to strike again. This has been a key part of our philosophy ever since we opened our doors 15 years ago,” explains Hutcheson.

 

While it’s difficult to fully quantify what effect 10 000 arrests has had on South Africa at large, there is no question its impact extends well beyond the realms of vehicle crime and is of benefit to all South Africans.

 

“The interesting thing about vehicle crime is that it is so often at the centre of other forms of violent crime. From armed robberies and cash-in-transit heists to house attacks and murder, so many of these heinous crimes involve stolen vehicles. Thus, often when we make an arrest we discover that the suspect is linked to a string of other crimes. It’s particularly rewarding when a single arrest can solve a dozen crimes and remove a dangerous perpetrator from our streets,” says Ron Knott-Craig, Tracker’s Operations Director.

 

To thank and pay tribute to the courageous efforts of the SAPS, a Tracker-SAPS bursary fund was established several years ago to provide tertiary merit bursaries to the children of police members who have been lost in the line of duty. As of today, more than 50 of these young men and women are being sponsored at universities and technikons throughout South Africa. The fund has so far produced 10 alumni, including its first medical doctor who received her final degree earlier this year.

 

“Finally, I would like to thank all our staff, our numerous business partners and our customers for their tremendous support. We look forward to making an even greater impact on crime in the months and years ahead,” says Hutcheson.

 

Working together, Tracker and the SAPS currently average approximately 100 arrests a month.

 

Since opening its doors in 1996, Tracker has recovered more than 55 000 stolen and hijacked vehicles which has led to 10 000 arrests and the shutting down of 339 crime syndicates and chop shops. Tracker currently protects more than 700 000 vehicles throughout South Africa and is the largest vehicle tracking company in the country.


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