General Information - LoJack Transactions (LE/LR)

All information about LoJack has been provided to Nlets by LoJack. More information about LoJack can be found at their web site http://www.lojack.com/

Additionally you can download their Functional Specification document Lojack State Spec (PDF File) under "LoJack Transactions - Downloads."

LoJack is a Stolen Vehicle Recovery System currently operational in 26 states. The LoJack system components include computer systems interfaced to Law Enforcement agencies in such a way that the entry of a stolen vehicle report by law enforcement will result in the activation of a LoJack Unit in the stolen vehicle so the police can quickly find and recover the stolen vehicle. When the stolen vehicle is activated, police vehicles equipped with LoJack tracking devices receive signal strength, direction, and a 5 character reply code from the stolen vehicle. When the police query on the 5 character reply code, the law enforcement system returns the stolen vehicle report so they can identify and recover the stolen vehicle. When the stolen vehicle report is canceled or cleared, the stolen vehicle signal is automatically de-activated.

The destination for a LoJack transaction is "LJ".

There are two data flows for the LoJack interface:

NCIC Vehicle file data messages (EV, MV, LV, XV, CV)
REPLY, CHECK, and QUIET messages from a police user terminal

XML Message Type: Legacy Message Type: Message Key:

n2:InquiryDescriptionText

LE LoJack Transaction

The LoJack System requires a feed of NCIC Vehicle file data (EV, MV, LV, XV and CV) from the participating state. This data is matched against a database of LoJack equipped vehicles. When there is a match by VIN, the LoJack system responds to the entering agency with LoJack information and queries NCIC to determine the Stolen/Not Stolen status.

Police agencies in the participating state need to be able to send transactions (Query, Check, and Quiet) with the LoJack Reply Code and receive the responses.

To determine the stolen vehicle status, a hit confirmation request must be sent to the entering agency prior to taking any action.

This page does not give every combination of message formats for data to LoJack or responses from LoJack. The developer should refer to the NCIC manual or its successor for the comprehensive list of messages.

Query Notes

Below is a table of LoJack transactions.

LoJack Code: Data Requirements: Translation EV VIN, MAKE (VMA) and YEAR (VYR) Entry of a vehicle into the database. MV VIN, License (LIC) and NCIC number (NIC) Modify the record of a vehicle in the database. LV VIN, License (LIC) and NCIC number (NIC) Locate the whereabouts of a vehicle. Activate or
de-activation LoJack unit. XV VIN, License (LIC) and NCIC number (NIC) Cancel the activation or de-activation of the LoJack unit. CV VIN, License (LIC) and NCIC number (NIC) Clear the the activation or de-activation of the LoJack unit. REPLY 5 character reply code for the stolen vehicle

Returns the stolen vehicle information from NCIC
and the LoJack system send a slow-down message
to the stolen vehilce for easier tracking.

CHECK 5 character reply code for the stolen vehicle

Performs an emergency update to the LoJack
database, if a vehicle is stolen before the
information can be entered normally into the
LoJack database.

QUIET 5 character reply code for the stolen vehicle

Turns off the LoJack signal, even though the
vehicle is still entered as stolen. Used mostly
for surveillance.

The LoJack system will respond to each "LE" (or "LQ") message with an "LR" response whether or not the Vehicle is a LoJack Vehicle. If the VIN matches a LoJack vehicle, there are two responses. The first says that NCIC is being queried. The second returns the NCIC result.

The LoJack system requires a copy of NCIC Stolen Vehicle messages in order to match the VIN (or VIN + Make + Year) on entry (EV) and Modify (MV), and to match the NIC, VIN, Plate, and Case # on Locate (LV), Cancel (XV) and Clear (CV). Records which match LoJack vehicles are used to Activate or Deactivate the LoJack unit in the stolen vehicle. The State system can validate the stolen vehicle file record and then send the message to LoJack, or wait for an NCIC acknowledgement before sending the record to the LoJack system.

When Entering a Stolen Vehicle (EV), the State needs to send a VIN, MAKE (VMA), YEAR (VYR). This information is needed to Activate or De-Activate the associated LoJack units. The LoJack system will query NCIC by VIN. The response is used to determine that the VIN is stolen in NCIC and to populate a NIC field to use in the Locate, Cancel, Clear transactions.

States need to send all LV, XV, and CV transactions to the LoJack system so the LoJack system can De-Activate the associated LoJack units. The LoJack system will query NCIC by VIN and determine that the VIN is no longer stolen in NCIC.

QUERY, CHECK and QUIET Reply Codes

QUERY

Query uses the word "REPLY" in the LoJack message. When a police officer in a LoJack equipped police vehicle picks up a stolen vehicle signal, it displays a unique number on the screen. When a stolen vehicle is entered into NCIC and the LoJack device on the vehicle receives the activation signal, the device will emit a face paced beeping to make it easier to track. If no queries are made on the five-character code for a set period of time the beeping will slow down.

When a query is run on the five-character LoJack code, the beeping will speed up again to make it easier to track. If no other query is made within a set period of time, the beeping will slow down again.

CHECK

Sometimes a vehicle is stolen before the LoJack information is in the LoJack database. The easiest solution is for LoJack to add the information to the LoJack database with an emergency update. LoJack would provide the Reply Code to a police agency. Then the police can run the reply code as a "CHECK" which causes the unit in the vehicle to activate if the record is STOLEN VEHICLE in NCIC. This function should have limited availability, with a different screen or message key. It is important to NOT to have the QUERY and CHECK on the same screen. In some states the police both CHECK and REPLY because they are not sure which to run, and this causes extra messages to be sent to the towers.

QUIET

Sometimes the police want to turn the LoJack signal off, even though the vehicle is still entered as stolen. A "QUIET" command was developed for surveillance and is used by police in many jurisdictions. This function should be limited to a few agencies or stations, particularly specialized auto theft squads who would organize a surveillance. The function should NOT be available to all departments, as a mistake would cause the de-activation of a stolen vehicle transmitter.

Response Notes

LoJack uses a convention to indicate what action is required by the participating state on a LoJack response.

If no VIN and No "REPLY CODE" in response: Not LoJack equipped. It is not necessary to build a response to user.
If there is no VIN and "REPLY CODE =" in response, the State system needs to deliver the LoJack response to user.
VIN/ in response: Not LoJack equipped. It is not necessary to build a response to the user.
VIN: in response: Preliminary message from LoJack: The State system needs to deliver the LoJack response to user.
"VIN =" in response: Secondary message from LoJack: Participating state should query NCIC on behalf of the entering agency and return both the NCIC response and the LoJack Response to the user.

Note: This response also applies to EV and MV with short VINs that don't match on VIN + Make + Year. LoJack matches on VIN only when the length of the VIN is 8 characters or more. To avoid false activations, LoJack matching on short VINs (7 characters or less) also requires exact match of VMA and VYR.

QUERY, CHECK and QUIET response codes

If a LoJack Reply Code starts with "000", it is a Police Training Unit, and can be ignored by the police. This applies to Query, CHECK and QUIET commands.
If a LoJack Reply Code contains a "B", "I" or "Z" it is an invalid Reply Code. The letter "O" is converted to the number "0". This applies to Query, CHECK and QUIET commands.
If a LoJack Reply Code is not found in the database, it returns an "UNKNOWN REPLY CODE" message. This applies to Query, CHECK and QUIET commands.
If a LoJack Reply Code matches a LoJack vehicle, a preliminary message is sent to the user with the VIN. This applies to Query, CHECK and QUIET commands.
If a LoJack Reply Code matches a LoJack vehicle, and the vehicle is stolen in NCIC, a Speed Up message is sent to the user, and a slow-down command is sent to the stolen vehicle. This applies to Query ONLY.
If a LoJack Reply Code matches a LoJack vehicle, and the vehicle is NOT stolen in NCIC, a De-Activate message is sent to the user, and a De-Activate command is sent to the stolen vehicle. This applies to Query, CHECK and QUIET.
If a LoJack Reply Code matches a LoJack vehicle, and the vehicle is stolen in NCIC, an Activation message is sent to the user, and an Activate command is sent to the stolen vehicle. This applies to CHECK ONLY.
If a LoJack Reply Code matches a LoJack vehicle, and the vehicle is stolen in NCIC, a De-Activation by QUIET message is sent to the user, and a De-Activate command is sent to the stolen vehicle. This applies to QUIET ONLY.

Help File

There currently is no help file for a LoJack transaction.