Welcome to our first informative and entertaining Newsletter of the year
- we trust that 2007 is shaping up to be safe, productive and profitable
IN THE NEWS!
We made front page banner headlines in The Mercury and on Sky TV late January when our Ground and Helicopter Recovery Teams uncovered an organised vehicle-theft/ chop-shop ring after tracking a stolen bakkie to Durban South. Full details next month!
BANDIT 2007
Having just celebrated our first decade of researching and developing ultra high-tech Vehicle Tracking/Monitoring and Fleet Management solutions of the highest order, Bandit is poised to release the even more value-added 2007 models of our path-finding systems. Unique technological advances have during the past ten years seen Bandit steadily increase its market share: we are confident that our latest breakthroughs deliver even greater peace of mind and profit margins – particularly in conjunction with Bandit’s hallmark cost-effectiveness and dedication to service excellence. Look forward to breaking news in our upcoming communiqués!
BANDIT Tracking / Monitoring
2006: “Another successful year!”
As seen in the Recovery Statistics table, Bandit has recorded yet another improved performance while our Private Recovery Teams around the country responded to an increased number of incidents during the past 12 months: mid-year in particular witnessed a significant escalation in hijackings and static theft call-outs, with figures for June revealing a 91 percent hike when compared with the same month in 2005. As a result of closely monitoring vehicle-related crime rates and trends – acting as a ‘barometer’ for our clients – it emerged from analysing Bandit incident reports nationwide that Gauteng once again claimed the lion’s share with about 75 percent of the country’s overall total, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with slightly more than 15 percent and the remainder divided among the other regions. The hijacking/theft split averaged 50/50 in KZN and 30/70 in Gauteng.

Relentless
Bandit’s Head of Recoveries in Gauteng reported that during this past holiday period “car thieves apparently decided not to follow the traffic coast-wards as they’ve done during the past few years…we had no let-up in their activities”. His KZN counterpart enjoyed no respite, though, and referred to the festive season as “a lot more business than usual”. All indications point to the finalised statistics for January 2007 revealing that the situation did not cool down post-New Year either.



Hijackings
Countrywide, in the vast majority of scenarios the victim was immediately ordered out of the vehicle at the point of being hijacked. Gauteng in particular has witnessed a continuation of the combined hijacking/home invasion which emerged as a trend during 2005. The driver is waylaid at the property entrance/gate and then forced at gunpoint to give access to the dwelling. A variation on that theme is the break-in where criminals take a person ‘for surety’ while making their get-away in the family vehicle.

Life-threatening
Across the country, Bandit recovery teams were shot at on numerous occasions during the year: while these were generally a few rounds let loose by fleeing criminals, in one instance the Head of Recoveries in KZN had to summon the Tactical Intervention Unit when four gunmen opened heavy fire after hijacking a furniture-removal truck, being tracked down and cornered.

BANDIT Recovery Anecdote
BANDIT Recovery Stats
Bandit is consistently able to report
impressive figures

Year Average 2005: 84%
Year Average 2006: 87%
October 2006: 86%
November 2006: 93%
December 2006: 93%

These statistics relate to our complete range of GSM-based tracking systems. During the last
quarter of 2006 we successfully recovered every vehicle fitted with the multi-feature, entry-level Bandit Activ model!

BANDIT Welcomes Allen Hartley


It is our great pleasure to announce that well-known and respected motor industry and vehicle tracking figure Allen Hartley has joined the team as Director of International Expansion.

Thanks to European Export Quality hallmarks, Bandit systems have for several years been achieving noteworthy success from Glasgow to Moscow and in some of Africa’s biggest countries: Allen has set himself the target of both increasing Bandit’s presence in existing markets abroad and widening our global footprint. Having “long admired Bandit’s ultra high-tech products and the dedication to ongoing research and development”, Allen believes that the “proven, all-purpose range of highly innovative and sophisticated systems which Bandit offers will enable me to fully realise the company’s potential beyond South African shores”.

In 1979 Allen Hartley began working with the McCarthy Motor Group as a trainee manager, a move which soon led to the position of Divisional Used Vehicle Sales Manager and acclaim as the group’s youngest-ever Dealer Principal. Then followed a highly successful tenure as Dealership Manager of Olympic Toyota Mobeni, the purchase of Weiss Motors and four additional dealerships. Allen entered the vehicle tracking arena in 1995, establishing the KZN sales and distribution channel of a rival operator.

Having chosen to forgo that lucrative business and take up a full-time directorship with Bandit, Allen Hartley says that “the opportunity arose and was too good to miss…I’m really excited at the prospect of expanding the impact of this groundbreaking company within the international marketplace”.

IN THE NEWS!
Noteworthy facts regarding our technological advantages emerged during this assessment of the past year:

• The most rapid response was once again activated by vehicles fitted with High Alert which has the capability of signalling static theft.

• A trucking company fleet controller raised the alarm when a vehicle’s Fleet Management System began transmitting harsh-braking/rapid-acceleration Erratic Driving messages: the vehicle had in fact been hijacked and was tracked and recovered soon afterwards.

• Also via Fleet Management technology, Recovery Teams investigated the stop-off points indicated by GPS and traced stolen trucks

• Bandit Recovery Teams reported that in addition to the 4-metre accuracy delivered by our systems with true satellite tracking, the GSM-positioning enabled by MTN’s comprehensive grid and final pinpointing abilities of Bandit’s low-frequency digital beacon transmitters played significant roles in the year’s impressive Recovery Rates. Bandit’s dedicated helicopter support – in all major centres – was called into use most often in the Johannesburg area on account of its built-up environment.
BANDIT RecoverFake Security
When Mrs Truluck and her daughter drove into the parking area of a Westville pre-primary school to attend a morning function there, little did they know that the two seemingly-authentic car guards who directed them to an available space were in fact armed hijackers lying in wait. The truth dawned, though, as soon as the women climbed out of their Toyota Tazz and ‘security’ demanded the car keys at gunpoint.

Bandit Control positioned the fugitive vehicle via its Activ GSM coordinates and a Recovery Team then followed the beacon transmitter’s low-frequency signals. The pursuit took a convoluted route through suburban New Germany before leading to a townhouse complex where the Tazz was abandoned and genuine security guards pointed out the direction in which the hijackers had fled on foot. Bandit personnel chased down and overpowered two suspects who were then handed over to police. Mrs Truluck was so impressed by “Bandit’s absolutely amazing, personalised and caring service…including an escort to the Westville police station for a suspect-identification parade” that she wrote to us thanking everyone from Control Room staff to the Recovery Team.

To read more Recovery Anecdotes visit Clients Say on our easy-to-navigate Website

Underwriter Endorsed / Manufacturer Approved

© 2007 Bandit Vehicle Security