Why aren't vehicles like these installed with GPS?
That would be a good place to start. BTW, you may be familiar with the buses stolen -- they were New Jersey -based Academy buses.
GPS is a passive receiver that provides position, altitude, time, heading and speed. It doesn't transmit anything. You must provide some kind of telemetry device that can be interrogated over a radio link. LoJack devices are the most common telemetry devices that can be installed to assist vehicle recovery. That assumes that your local law enforcement has LoJack receivers installed in the squad cars. San Diego has them. Pocatello does not.