The award winning Swift HAL-Locate tracking system assists AVCIS team in securing the successful recovery of over £90,000 of property in one operation.
24th September 2009, Luton, England
Imagine the frustration of discovering not just one caravan stolen but seven!
That was the situation faced by a Lincolnshire dealership recently after thieves broke in overnight and helped themselves. Needless to say the dealer team notified the local police immediately the thefts were discovered.
The thefts were notified to AVCIS (ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service) Leisure Vehicles Officer, Tim Booth, via caravan insurance industry specialists. Tim, as the industry’s specialist security advisor, recognised that a new Swift Conqueror, fitted with HAL-Locate as standard, was one of the stolen caravans. Having confirmed the caravan’s identity with the dealership, contact was made with HAL-Locate to establish whether contact could be made with the tracking system.
The Swift Conqueror 630 was quickly located to a site near Skegness and a police response deployed. On arrival the police were directed to the exact spot where the Conqueror was hidden behind a tall hedge and were able to not only recover the caravan, but also make one arrest on suspicion of being involved in the theft. In the process of securing the site, some of the other six caravans stolen at the same time were identified, along with a stolen 4x4 vehicle.
AVCIS Leisure Vehicles Officer Tim Booth, Security Advisor to the National Caravan Council (NCC) comments “Working with solutions like Swift HAL-Locate allows us to recover stolen leisure vehicles, identify those responsible and gain valuable intelligence on how these vehicles are stolen and disposed of. This is beneficial for all concerned; owners, insurers and the police service. These devices assist insurers in recovering their losses in the first instance, not only of stolen vehicles fitted with tracking devices but also, as with this incident, associated vehicles discovered at the time or as a result of subsequent enquiries. This has allowed police and insurers to reduce exposure through targeted disruption of those organised criminal groups responsible for directing and orchestrating thefts which is a win-win for all involved.”
Steve Trossell, Director of Swift, comments “By fitting the Swift HAL-Locate at point of manufacture we’ve improved the security of our product throughout the supply chain so that now not only do our customers benefit from the peace of mind and insurance savings of having a class leading tracking system as standard equipment, but our dealer partners are also seeing the benefits.”
To find out more about HAL-Locate or to obtain details of approved dealers, contact Locate Sales & Marketing on 0844 3576313 or visit http://www.hal-
