Crimestoppers for Tow Companies

Tow truck thefts, robbery, carjacking, and joy riding are all on the rise across America. Criminals are stealing police vehicles, ambulances, freeway-service patrol vehicles, and tow trucks as they’re working on-highway response, at hospitals or parked at inner-city or rural locations. Here are a few practical tips to avoid becoming a victim of tow truck theft:

• Park “not in service” tow trucks in secured, well-lit locations

• Don’t leave keys in ignition, over the windshield visor, under the seat, or in the glovebox

• Store keys in secure office boxes

• When leaving your tow truck, lock all windows and doors, and activate alarm questions arise: has the company fallen on hard times, is the truck insured, are payments current with its finance company, is there a divorce pending, is the truck slated for repossession, or, is there a beef with a competitor? As just noted, it’s hard to imagine the underworld has that much interest in stealing tow trucks for use as a getaway vehicle.

In attempt to resolve stolen truck capers, investigators also question if the truck was inside a secured facility, behind locked gates and were keys left in the ignition? What about the disgruntled employee recently dismissed?

When it comes to missing tow trucks, former employees might seek to get even for being dismissed. For instance, with one case in La Mesa, California, an ex-employee allegedly stole a tow truck, then set fire to the company’s office. When an exemployee takes a truck, it’s likely dumped locally as a means to simply mess with the businesses’ operations. “Borrowing” a company’s truck is one sure way of turning a business upside down, especially if it’s a small fleet company. A disgruntled ex-employee isn’t necessarily a car thief—he or she is just mad at you.

• Install modern, audible alarms that activate when doors are opened

• Install a carefully hidden “battery disconnect device” that cuts start-up power

• Purchase modern “dispatch software” including real-time tracking identifiers (truck number, direction of travel, exact location, speed, etc.)

• When conducting tow-related service and recoveries, be aware of anyone within your truck’s vicinity

• Company policy should include a “No Idle Policy” when operators are away from trucks; trucks should be shut off and keys taken with them

• At night and when the truck is operating inside the tow yard, operators should close and lock the gate as

It’s a common occurrence that employees are issued keys to the facility as well as the company’s fleet. They also know when the company “goes quiet” during nonbusiness hours. If the tow yard has a security dog, employees know the dog’s name, where it’s tied up, where it sleeps, and perhaps when the dog’s out on a ride-along with its owner.

An investigator might ask, “Was the gate rammed? No forced entry? No audible alarms?” All this suggests that the crime may be in-house.

Keep Track Of Keys

When employees are let go (or leave on their own), do you insist that they turn in their keys to the trucks and the facility? Think about the last employees or business-related individuals that you dismissed, and determine if you got the keys back. Often, security becomes lax, if not entirely absent, if keys aren’t returned when employees are released.

Even so, getting keys back from an employee doesn’t ensure another copy wasn’t made. So, it might be necessary to consider re-keying locks in some instances.

As one example of faulty security, a California tow owner bought only they come into the yard

• To minimize the risk of carjacking, avoid high-crime areas, especially at night

• If a truck is stolen or taken without permission, call 911 immediately to report the theft and attain a case number

• Provide the truck’s information to 911 (license plate, VIN, truck type, make model and paint/color)

• Don’t give chase or try to apprehend a suspect—call 911

• To increase the possibility of your stolen truck being spotted, post information on social media

• Report a theft to your insurance provider as soon as possible, preferably within 24-hours

Ford tow trucks for the fleet. His logic, as with police vehicles, was having the ability to re-key the entire fleet to use the same key. But when an employee was dismissed, he left with the truck’s keys, allowing him to turn the company’s world upside down. It was his way of saying, “Thanks for firing me!”

The Usual Suspects

Especially true in small towns, truck theft might stem from a competitor. When tow trucks are left unoccupied, they’re easily taken by people who know wrecker systems, truck mechanics, and how to make keys to unlock vehicles. So as the old movie line states, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” meaning that you shouldn’t rule out the likelihood of a competitor being a suspect.

In addition, wreckers are taken for use in other crimes like smash-and-grab burglaries, stealing other cars, and even removing ATM machines. Investigators often see these thefts as inside jobs where unethical tow operators know how to work the truck’s systems.

An obvious theft-prevention tip is to avoid high crime areas. Having a truck stolen at gunpoint is a frequent crime where robbery is the intended purpose. Bad guys will shove a pistol in the tower’s face seeking money, cellphones, or other items of value, and then order the operator from the truck. It’s the robber’s idea to make a not-so-smart escape by stealing the truck. When carjacking is the reason behind a theft, keep a calm head and don’t become a victim.

Risks And Liabilities

Stolen tow trucks get driven at reckless speeds knowing that wreckers or carriers are difficult vehicles to stop based on their mass and size. A basic PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) is a maneuver used by law enforcement personnel to force a fleeing vehicle to abruptly turn 180 degrees, but it isn’t going to stop a speeding truck. Spike strips are a better choice.

Yet, if a tow truck is stolen because keys were left in it, or it was running and unoccupied for reasons other than loadand-go scenarios, a civil lawsuit (against the tow company) may result if innocent people are injured or killed during pursuit.

For example, a Syracuse, New York sheriff’s deputy sued the AAA after a tow operator, conducting tire service, left his carrier running only to be stolen by a suspect recently released from jail. A four-hour chase ensued where news footage showed the chase to be more of a Keystone Cop’s episode involving maybe as many as 10 police vehicles in hot pursuit.

During the pursuit, the suspect “intentionally aimed” the carrier at a sheriff’s vehicle, striking it nearly head-on and injuring a deputy. The local news reported, “The lawsuit named AAA for negligently, carelessly and recklessly allowing their tow truck to be stolen.”

In defense of AAA, the operator was conducting service operations with emergency lights on and in accordance with industry standards. The AAA “never allowed” the truck to be taken, but as with police, fire and paramedic vehicles, tow trucks must be left running to keep systems such as lighting, engines, alternators and cooling operational in the duties of their response.

New Technologies

In today’s age of anti-theft alarms, kill switches, GPS trackers and in-cab cameras, technology is fairly easily installed on wreckers and carriers. If a truck theft does occur, dispatch technology allows tow companies to track their trucks and find its location, speed and direction of travel. This instant information can be provided to 911 operators to aid in suspect apprehension and truck retrieval.

GPS systems are advantageous to truck tracking. One advanced system, OnStar, a subsidiary of General Motors, has the capability to disable newer GM tow trucks remotely if stolen. GM is currently the only major manufacturer allowing “police activity requests” to initiate shutdown of trucks, and a “catch-all system” isn’t available to all vehicles and trucks. (Even new Teslas can’t remotely be disabled; someone has to be inside the vehicle to shut it off.)

Less sophisticated measures can work just as well though. At starting costs under $40, “The Club”, steering wheel device can be purchased as a lock and visual deterrence. AirTag and AirPod trackers can be paired with your cellphone and stashed in any vehicle (albeit with some geographic limitations).

Don’t wait for that unfortunate incident where your “untrackable” tow truck heads down the road and all your tow operator can do is watch it disappear. That’s a hard life’s lesson to learn.