Increase in Carjackings Leads to Some Home-Grown Solutions : Safety: Entrepreneurs are touting a slew of gizmos. One shocks a thief right out of the driver’s seat.
Responding to the recent spate of violent carjackings, car alarm companies and entrepreneurs are marketing a slew of security systems and gizmos promoted as the antidote to the latest type of street crime.
The devices, which promoters say are in high demand, range from a macho-looking mannequin that stands in for a driving companion to a security system that uses a dose of non-lethal electricity to jolt a thief out of the driver’s seat.
A Sherman Oaks man who works out of his garage installing bullet-resistant glass on cars for about $400 a window said he has been inundated with so many orders that he cannot keep up.
Although police say the chance of becoming a carjacking victim is slim, the devices are sold with the message that no one is safe--at least not without the new security devices.
“Today, just driving down the street puts you at the mercy of criminals who care more about the value of your vehicle than the value of your life. Carjacking is rampant,†warns a brochure for BlackJack, a $160 system that disables the car’s engine when a thief fails to punch a code into the security system’s entry switch.
“It’s selling like hot cakes because it’s the only safe and effective anti-carjacking product on the market,†said Keith Field, a spokesman for Clifford Electronics, the Chatsworth-based firm that sells the BlackJack system. He declined to release sales figures.
Interest in security devices extends beyond California. A businesswoman from Albany, N.Y., who asked not to be identified, said she ordered two of the mannequin companions, one for herself and one for her 30-year-old daughter, because she feels vulnerable on the streets.
“It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when we have to go to such extremes,†she said. “When I was young, we didn’t even have to lock our doors.â€
Another woman, who works for a television news program in Los Angeles, said covering crime in the city has made her “ultra-paranoid.†In addition to ordering one of the mannequins, the newswoman said she has installed several security devices on her car, including an anti-carjacking system that cuts off the engine after the car is stolen.
Promoters of the new devices insist that they are not capitalizing on fear but instead are filling a new need in the marketplace.
“It’s very bad that we have to buy something to protect ourselves,†said Naushad Khan, inventor of Dial-Arm, a system that uses cellular telephone technology to disable a car after it has been stolen. “But if we didn’t buy these things, we wouldn’t be as safe.â€
Khan said that in the past four months, his company has sold about 600 Dial-Arm systems, advertised as providing “hijack protection and personal safety.â€
Carjackings have increased in the city of Los Angeles over the past three years, from 4,179 in 1990 to 4,404 in 1991 to 4,671 last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. At least five people have been killed in the Los Angeles area during carjackings in the past three months.
The increase in carjackings and other vehicle crimes has fueled demand for a variety of anti-theft devices. The Electronics Industries Assn. predicts that the nationwide market for vehicle security systems will grow 15% this year and about 9% during each of the next five years.
Police department officials say they are forbidden to endorse any security device. They advise motorists to reduce their chances of becoming a victim by being aware of their surroundings and avoiding potentially dangerous areas.
“In this day and age, we have to pay attention to what is going on around us,†said Officer James Cytert of the LAPD’s crime prevention unit.
Most important, he said, motorists should never resist a carjacker.
Police believe that carjackings are on the rise because newer, more sophisticated alarms and security devices make it more difficult for thieves to steal unattended cars. It is more violent, but easier, to take an occupied car at gun- or knifepoint.
Police say there are generally two types of carjackers: those looking to take expensive cars that can be sold, most likely for parts, and those who need a car quickly and steal whatever happens by.
In short, a man in a $11,000 Toyota is almost as vulnerable as a woman in a $40,000 Lexus.
Anti-carjack systems range from the simple--the mannequin is an idea as old as the scarecrow--to the elaborate.
The Auto Avenger, marketed by Secure Products of Marina del Rey, works like many other anti-carjacking systems by disabling the engine after a car has been stolen.
The system is triggered when the door is opened while the engine is running. After the thief has driven a short distance, the system shuts off the engine when the car comes to a stop.
The system then warns the thief that he has “15 seconds to get out or face the 50,000-volt shock,†said Allan Jon Kertzmar, head of Secure Products. (The car owner who accidentally triggers the system can disengage it with a hidden switch.)
The non-lethal shock will repeat until the owner shuts off the system or the battery dies hours later.
The system has a suggested retail price of $399. The electric shock option costs an additional $299. With another $299 option, the system will release a plume of brightly colored smoke to draw attention to the car.
The Auto Avenger is advertised as the system that provides “50,000 reasons a carjacker won’t even think about stealing your car.†Kertzmar said he has installed only about a dozen Auto Avengers but is trying to line up a retailer to sell the system on a larger scale.
Other anti-carjacking systems rely on a simpler deterrent.
Barbara LesStrang, a book publisher from Summerland in Santa Barbara County, said her idea for a driver’s mannequin companion came from the fear she felt while driving alone to a business meeting.
LesStrang said she thought: “What we need is a safety man. A strong, big-looking traveling companion so that we are not in danger when we are driving.â€
With the help of a friend with a talent for sewing, LesStrang created Safe-T-Man. She has received hundreds of orders from around the country, she said. Safe-T-Man sells for $99. For $40 more, the mannequin can be equipped with a remote-controlled alarm system.
LesStrang has installed an 800 number to take orders and has arranged for an El Monte manufacturer to produce at least 1,000 mannequins. If the orders continue at this rate, she said she may ask the manufacturer to make 10,000 mannequins.
“I had no idea that it would go like this,†she said.
But police snicker at the Safe-T-Man concept.
Detective Russ Suggs of the LAPD’s burglary and auto theft division said a companion may deter a carjacker but he doubts that a mannequin will fool many thieves.
“I cannot believe anyone would believe that is not a dummy,†he said.
Hayden Hamilton, a Sherman Oaks businessman, said he came up with his answer to the carjacking problem after his wife became too frightened to drive to the market alone.
His idea was to place 3/4-inch, bullet-resistant glass over car windows. Hamilton installs the glass, sometimes found in banks, in his garage, where he cuts the material to order on an industrial-type table saw.
Hamilton said he got a huge response after placing a newspaper ad, showing his wife beside the couple’s Rolls-Royce and holding a bullet-pocked section of glass. The ad says the material “will stop repeated shots†from a 9-millimeter or .38-caliber handgun.
“I put the ad in the paper and I didn’t think I would get 50 calls a day,†said Hamilton, who owns several commercial buildings.
Although he has installed the glass on only five cars in the past two months, the idea created more work than he expected.
The only drawback, he said, is that the protective glass cannot be rolled down. He cuts a small opening in the glass to allow motorists to use drive-through window services without opening the door.
“Most of the cars I’ve done are late-model Mercedes-Benzes or Lexuses,†he said, “so they have a pretty good air-conditioning system.â€
Fighting Crime A sampling of new products advertised as anti-carjacking devices. BLACKJACK * How it works: Disables car engine when thief fails to punch in a secret code.
* Cost: $160
AUTO AVENGER * How it works: Shuts off car engine if the door is opened with the engine running. Warns that thief has 15 seconds to get out or face a 50,000-volt shock, which is non-lethal.
* Cost: Suggested retail price of $399. Add $299 for electric shock option. Also available for $299 more: equipment that spews colored smoke to attract attention.
SAFE-T-MAN * How it works: Mannequin that sits in the passenger’s seat to deter criminals.
* Cost: $99. Add $40 for remote-control alarm system.
BULLET-RESISTANT GLASS * How it works: Regular glass covered with bullet-resistant variety.
* Cost: From one company, about $400 a window.
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