DataDot

IAATI - Fighting Vehicle Crime Together

IAATI was established in 1952 in order to improve training, communication and coordination among the growing family of professional vehicle crime investigators, representing more than 43 countries. IAATI members include representatives from law enforcement agencies and many others that have a vested interest in combating vehicle related crimes.

An IAATI International training seminar is held annually. Daan Nel from Tracker told SERVAMUS that annually since 2008, the national winner of the Tracker/SAPS Awards is sent to attend this seminar as part of his/her prize. This year's winner will attend the 60th Annual Training Seminar in Kansas City in the USA during August 2012.

Back at home, the Southern African Branch of IAATI was established in 1990. but its membership was suspended in 1996. During 2008 it was re-established and since then, it has grown to 160 members. Gerald Davis from Mutual and Federal was elected as the new president for the IAATI Southern African Branch (SAB) during this 2011 seminar.

The second annual training seminar of the IAATI SAB was held from 26 - 28 October 2011 at the Weesgerus Resort in Modimolle. Joe Brosius, the International IAATI President, came all the way from the USA to attend this seminar and was full of praise about IAATI SAB when SERVAMUS spoke to him.

SERVAMUS attended the seminar for a day and learned a lot about vehicle crime. Mano Diakakis informed the IAATI members about the role of information technology in combating vehicle crime. During his presentation, he made it clear that partnerships between government and the private sector are important. He is also of the opinion that data exchange between law enforcers and the private sector must increase as they all work towards one goal: combating vehicle crime.

Derek Menday, from DataDot SA addressed the role of the microdotting industry in combating vehicle crime during his presentation. Microdotting is a first-line forensics tool. According to Mr Menday more than 800 000 vehicles have already been micro dotted in South Africa since this process was introduced, and this figure is growing monthly.

Other speakers for this day included W/O Clive Tiedt, who addressed the topic of theft and identification of trailers, and W/O Barry Steenberg. who spoke about theft and identification of watercrafts.

The current IAATI SAB has established three awards to give recognition to people who have excelled in the field of investigating and combating vehicle crime. The recipient of the investigators' award was Lt-Col Lieb Liebenberg from SAPS Vehicle Crime Unit in Isando for outstanding performance as a vehicle crime investigator for 2011. The vehicle crime combating award was awarded to Pierre Carstens from Tracker for outstanding performance in combating vehicle crime for 2011. Senior Admin Clerk Gerda Beukes from Vehicle Crime SAPS Head Office received the Director's award for rendering extraordinary service to the IAATI SAB for 2011. In addition to a trophy, these three recipients also received IAATI membership for a year and an all-expenses-paid trip to the following IAATI SAB Annual Training Seminar. The awards were presented during the seminar at Weesgerus.

The IAATI SAB seminar will once again be held in 2012. Police members who are interested in joining IAATI can visit their website at www.iaatisab.co.za for more information.