On January 16, 2010, a retirement party was held for 1997 WSATI Southern Chapter Past President Dennis Frias to celebrate his retirement from the California Highway Patrol after 30 years of service.  The party was held at the Irvine Marriott and about 200 of Dennis' friends, family, and co-workers gathered to honor him.  During the recognition portion of the program, 2010 WSATI Southern President John Bartolone presented Dennis with a framed certificate.  The certificate read:

Dennis has been actively involved in the WSATI Southern Chapter, IAATI Western Regional Chapter, and the North American Export Committee.  Dennis is actively involved in putting together the training for the upcoming WSATI Training Seminar to be held in May 2010 in San Diego.

For an Adobe .pdf copy of Dennis' retirement flyer click here.

You can reach Dennis at

At the IAATI Western Regional Chapter Annual General Membership Meeting held during the 37th Annual WSATI Training Seminar in Monterey, September 28-October 1, 2008, Rick Greenwood was elected as the 2009 Calendar Year President of the IAATI WRC.

Rick is a long time member of the Riverside Police Department and has been involved in the WSATI Southern Chapter and IAATI Western Regional Chapter, serving as an officer in both organizations.  Rick is the 2008 WSATI Southern Chapter President and one of the 2008-2009 IAATI National Directors.

You can reach Rick at

At the IAATI Western Regional Chapter Annual General Membership Meeting held during the 36th Annual WSATI Training Seminar in San Diego, September 10-14, 2007, Skip Davidson was elected as the 2008 Calendar Year President of the IAATI WRC.

Following a career with LAPD, Skip became a private investigator.

Skip is a long time member of the WSATI Southern Chapter, having served as the Chapter President in 1991.  Skip has also been a long time member of IAATI having served on the IAATI WRC Executive Board the past five years.

You can reach Skip at

During the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) 55th Annual Training Seminar held in Litchfield Park, AZ on August 5-10, 2007,  Rick Greenwood, submitted an application to become a National Director of IAATI.  After review of the application and oral interview, Rick was selected to be an IAATI National Director for 2007 - 2008.

Rick is a long time member of the Riverside Police Department and has been involved in the WSATI Southern Chapter and IAATI Western Regional Chapter, serving as an officer in both organizations.  Rick is the current 2008 WSATI Southern Chapter President and the 2008 IAATI WRC 1st Vice President.

You can reach Rick at

During the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) 55th Annual Training Seminar held in Litchfield Park, AZ on August 5-10, 2007,  Dave Petrelli, submitted an application to become an Associate Director of IAATI.  After review of the application and oral interview, Dave was selected to be an IAATI Associate Director for 2007 - 2008.

Dave is retired from over 20 years in State Farm’s Special Investigation Department where he was employed as their first SIU Section Manager. He is now Western Regional Manager for PT&C Forensics, Fire and Explosion Unit. Dave is a recognized expert and instructor. Dave is the elected 2008 WSATI Southern Chapter Treasurer.

You can reach Dave at

The 2006 WSATI Annual Training Seminar was held at Harrah's Tahoe Hotel in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada on October 2nd-4th, 2006.

One of our own WSATI Southern Chapter members was recognized for his many, many years of service as a vehicle theft investigator and his "Outstanding Service and Unselfish Dedication to the Western States Auto Theft Investigators."  Recently retired Santa Ana Police / OCATT Detective Gary Labb was awarded the prestigious Gerald "Jerry" Boyer Memorial Award. The award was presented to Gary by Frank Zangar, WSATI Northwest President.  Gary and his instructing partner, Jim Hayes, continue to instruct "Vehicle Theft Investigation" classes in the western states. 

Gary is a WSATI Southern Chapter Past President, an Orange County Auto Theft Investigators Association (OCATI) Past President, and a member of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI). 

During the WSATI Training Seminar, Gary was also elected 2007 President of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) Western Regional Chapter.

You can reach Gary at

During the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) 54th Annual Training Seminar in Winnipeg, Canada, August 6-11, 2006, Rick Greenwood, submitted an application to become an Associate Director of IAATI.  After review of the application and oral interview, Rick was selected to be an IAATI Associate Director for 2006 - 2007.

Rick is a long time member of the Riverside Police Department and has been involved in the WSATI Southern Chapter and IAATI Western Regional Chapter, serving as an officer in both organizations.

You can reach Rick at

Two California Law Enforcement Officers Honored for Work Combating Heavy Equipment Theft Special Award Presented at The Rental Show

Feb. 6, 2006 (ORLANDO, FLA.)  Two California law enforcement officers were honored earlier today for their efforts in combating heavy equipment theft in the rental equipment industry. The award – the ARA Insurance Services/National Equipment Register (AIS/NER) Award, presented at The Rental Show, the annual convention and trade show of the American Rental Association – went to Detective Lou Koven of the Los Angeles Police Department and Investigator Gabe Marquez of the California Highway Patrol. 

The AIS/NER award recognizes a law enforcement officer or agent who has performed exceptional services to the rental industry through the recovery of rental equipment or through theft prevention initiatives. 

“These two law enforcement agents have performed exceptional service to our industry through the recovery of stolen rental equipment, prevention initiatives, and by increasing awareness of the magnitude of this issue,” said Phil Kelling, president of ARA Insurance Services. 

“Heavy equipment theft is one of the rental equipment industry’s more complex challenges, costing the rental equipment industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” said David Shillingford, president of National Equipment Register. “In the ongoing battle with equipment theft, law enforcement officers make an often unrecognized contribution,” he added.

Koven and Marquez were responsible for the identification and recovery of numerous machines and worked extensively with local law enforcement, rental companies, ARA and NER to establish an equipment crime task force that has already had a dramatic effect on equipment theft levels. 

ARA Insurance Services and ARA of California, a state association of ARA, granted $1,000 to the Los Angeles Police Department and another $1,000 to the California Highway Patrol to continue assisting rental owners with theft prevention. 

The award was established in 2004 as part of the partnership among the American Rental Association (ARA), ARA Insurance Services (AIS) and the National Equipment Register (NER), a partnership central to ARA’s efforts to help their members combat the serious problem of equipment theft in the rental industry. 

As a member benefit, ARA offers its members the opportunity, at no cost, to list 1,000 pieces of equipment on the National Equipment Register database. NER’s database and it’s Police Hotline provide law enforcement with 24 hour access to equipment identification experts and data on equipment losses and ownership from equipment owners, insurance companies and manufacturers. This member benefit is endorsed by ARA Insurance Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ARA. 

ARA, AIS and NER will further demonstrate their commitment to helping law enforcement combat equipment theft by hosting more than 40 law enforcement officers from Florida and surrounding states for specialized theft prevention training during The Rental Show. Officers will attended interactive classroom sessions and acquire hands-on examination of the equipment on exhibit by vendors at The Rental Show. Similar training is offered through ARA’s state associations in partnership with NER.

About ARA

The American Rental Association (www.ARARental.org) is an international trade association for the owners of equipment rental businesses and the manufacturers and suppliers of rental equipment. Domestic annual rental industry revenue is approximately $31.1 billion. ARA members, which include more than 7,500 rental businesses and 1,100 manufacturers and suppliers, are  located in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, every Canadian province, and more than 30 countries worldwide. The Rental Show, ARA’s annual convention and trade show, is the world’s largest rental equipment trade show. 

About NER

The National Equipment Register, Inc. (www.NERusa.com) was established in 2001 to increase the recovery rate of stolen farm and construction equipment by improving the volume, quality and availability of information available to law enforcement investigating suspicious equipment.  NER has developed national databases of equipment ownership (13 million records) and theft (80,000 records) and provides this information and equipment identification advice to police 24 hours-a-day.  Equipment owners register their equipment with NER to ensure that it can be identified quickly, even before a theft has been reported. Theft is also deterred by placing NER decals on registered equipment to warn thieves of the increases chance of detection and arrest.  These processes and relationships have directly resulted in the recovery of over $7 million of stolen equipment, much more if related recoveries are included. 

You can reach Lou at
You can reach Gabe at
For an Adobe .pdf document version of the press release (100 kb) click here.

The 2005 WSATI Annual Training Seminar was held at The Beach Resort in Monterey, California on September 25-27, 2005.

Long time State Farm Special Investigations Unit Supervisor, then Director-Special Investigations for
Alliance United Insurance Company, Dave Petrelli, was elected 2006 President of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) Western Regional Chapter.  Dave has been involved with the WSATI Southern Chapter for decades. Dave is a recognized expert and instructor. Dave was elected 2007 WSATI Chapter Sergeant-At-Arms in 2006.

You can reach Dave at

International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) 4th Vice President Mikel Longman presented an IAATI Director's Award posthumously to Carol VanNatter.  The award was accepted on behalf of Carol's family by AAA Southern California SIU Assistant Group Manager Dan Brogdon.

Carol was a long time employee of the AAA Southern California SIU.  Carol was a long time member and Past President of the WSATI Southern Chapter.  Carol also served for many years as the Treasurer of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) Western Regional Chapter.  She was also Director of Exhibitions for the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators.  Carol was also very involved in both the Orange County and San Diego County ATAC Awards.

You can read more about Carol by clicking here.

At the January 16, 2003 WSATI Southern Chapter Training Meeting, NICB Special Agent Mark Stowell came up to the podium.  Mark said that he had been asked by the North American Export Committee to make a special presentation.  Mark said that during the last meeting of the North American Export Committee, an award was made to an investigator who could not attend the meeting.  The award, the Peter Girard Investigative Award, was dedicated to the memory of Peter Girard, U.S. Customs Service Supervisory Agent and NAEC member.  The 2002 winner was former CHP FEAR Investigator Dennis Frias who has since promoted and is the Southern Division ISU Sergeant. Mark called Dennis up to the podium where the award was formally given to Dennis. 

You can reach Dennis at

The 2002 Annual WSATI Training Seminar was held at the Caesars Convention Center in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada on September 29-October 1, 2002. 

Long time State Farm Special Investigations Unit Investigator Marianne Finney was elected 2003 President of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) Western Regional Chapter.  Marianne is a Past President of  WSATI Southern Chapter and a long time member of IAATI.

Marianne Finney can be reached at

The 2001 WSATI Annual Training Seminar was held at the Doral Palm Springs Resort in Palm Springs, California on September 30-October 3, 2001.

Jerry Boyer presented Dennis Frias with the Richard A. Smith Memorial Award for all his years of dedication to WSATI. 

Dennis is a long time member of the California Highway Patrol.  Dennis is a Past President of the WSATI Southern Chapter.

You can reach Dennis at

One of our own WSATI Southern Chapter members was recognized for his many, many years of service as a vehicle theft investigator/sergeant... OCATT's very own CHP Sergeant "Fritz" Grimsley was awarded the prestigious (Washington State Patrol) Trooper James E. Gain Award.

You can read more about Fritz by clicking here.

Quoting from the IAATI APB Magazine "This year's recipients have year after year demonstrated their willingness to get in the trenches and get the job done, not to seek recognition, but to give their best for something they believe in.  They have worked side by side (literally) to work at seminars in whatever capacity they could fill, registration, marketing, arranging and working with spousal programs, etc."

"During the presentation, it was stated that these people have been 'joined at the hip' for many years so it was only fitting that they should both receive a well deserved recognition for their efforts."

Joan Pitts was also elected President of the Western Regional Chapter of IAATI.  Carol Van Natter, the third member of this set of triplets, was elected as the Secretary / Treasurer of the Western Chapter of IAATI.

Joan can be reached at
Marianne can be reached at
You can read more about Carol by clicking here.

The 1998 WSATI Training Seminar was held at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, California on September 30-October 2, 1998.

A surprise for the WSATI Southern Chapter was the dual presentation of the WSATI Northwest Chapter (Washington State Patrol) Trooper James S. Gain Award to our very own “brick,” Carol VanNatter, and WSATI Northwest President Darrell Ehlers. 

Carol is a Past President of WSATI Southern Chapter, as well as participating in the Orange County Auto Theft Investigators Association (OCATI), and the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI).

You can read more about Carol by clicking here.