Why is car crime unpunished/ unpoliced?
Discussion
So, got a call from my brother today, his M3 has been stolen off the drive overnight… It has been elsewhere for a week, & the one night it was at home, it has beeb lifted.
The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
RWD cossie wil said:
So, got a call from my brother today, his M3 has been stolen off the drive overnight… It has been elsewhere for a week, & the one night it was at home, it has beeb lifted.
The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
There's far less of it going on than there was 20/30 years ago.The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
If you don't want them to get taken then manufacturers need to make them harder to take.
Did he have any additional security in/on the vehicle?
Edited by vonhosen on Thursday 16th March 17:52
RWD cossie wil said:
So, got a call from my brother today, his M3 has been stolen off the drive overnight… It has been elsewhere for a week, & the one night it was at home, it has beeb lifted.
The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
I suspect there isn’t in fact that much evidence available. Most CCTV is pretty naff, also very easily circumvented with a mask. The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
Also, whilst extremely annoying etc, due to insurance I don’t think the impact on people is that major. Yes I’ve had a vehicle stolen.
Anyway, the actual answer to your question is probably funding. Both that of the police and that of other agencies which police spend lots of time picking up the slack for. Like mental health services.
vonhosen said:
There's far less of it going on than there was 20/30 years ago.
If you don't want them to get taken then manufacturers need to make them harder to take.
The 80s and 90s, and the car crime then was huge, just no internet to let everyone know instantly.If you don't want them to get taken then manufacturers need to make them harder to take.
And them manufacturers must benifit massively from car crime, all them insurance payouts getting spent on replacements.
Years ago you had to sort out your own extra security, cat 1 alarms, locks and other measures. Then that all died off, until recently, seems immobilisers and locks are making a come back.
Edited by FilH on Thursday 16th March 17:57
The days of police turning up at incidents that have ‘already happened’ are long gone, sadly. They struggle to get to all the things that ‘are happening now’. The reasons why are lengthy.
The police should at least phone the OP’s brother to see if it’s likely there is actually any evidence such as CCTV. If it was my car I would already know if there was CCTV as I’d be checking myself.
Saying that, everyone thinks there is CCTV everywhere, or potential CCTV when there actually isn’t, and with little chance of it covering where his M3 was parked. Folks cameras generally just cover their own driveways/businesses and not neighbours drives or across the road.
The thieves will have their faces covered and if arriving by car will be displaying false number plates, effectively making CCTV useless.
So whilst they could maybe have phoned him back (unless the relevant questions were asked when reported) he then there’s little to nothing the police can do. There is no police bag of magic tricks that can solve crimes.
If it’s later found/recovered then that might lead to more enquiries but don’t hold your breath.
L
The police should at least phone the OP’s brother to see if it’s likely there is actually any evidence such as CCTV. If it was my car I would already know if there was CCTV as I’d be checking myself.
Saying that, everyone thinks there is CCTV everywhere, or potential CCTV when there actually isn’t, and with little chance of it covering where his M3 was parked. Folks cameras generally just cover their own driveways/businesses and not neighbours drives or across the road.
The thieves will have their faces covered and if arriving by car will be displaying false number plates, effectively making CCTV useless.
So whilst they could maybe have phoned him back (unless the relevant questions were asked when reported) he then there’s little to nothing the police can do. There is no police bag of magic tricks that can solve crimes.
If it’s later found/recovered then that might lead to more enquiries but don’t hold your breath.
L
Edited by Big Stevie on Thursday 16th March 18:29
FilH said:
The 80s and 90s, and the car crime then was huge, just no internet to let everyone know instantly.
And them manufacturers must benifit massively from car crime, all them insurance payouts getting spent on replacements.
Years ago you had to sort out your own extra security, cat 1 alarms, locks and other measures. Then that all died off, until recently, seems immobilisers and locks are making a come back.
No, OEMs get punished via insurance ratings for their cars.And them manufacturers must benifit massively from car crime, all them insurance payouts getting spent on replacements.
Years ago you had to sort out your own extra security, cat 1 alarms, locks and other measures. Then that all died off, until recently, seems immobilisers and locks are making a come back.
Edited by FilH on Thursday 16th March 17:57
OP, post up the CCTV. Is it really clear cut?
RWD cossie wil said:
So, got a call from my brother today, his M3 has been stolen off the drive overnight… It has been elsewhere for a week, & the one night it was at home, it has beeb lifted.
The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
What's the evidence and does the cctv show clear faces? The police are absolutely disinterested, to the point of being sarcastic. No one sent round, despite lots of potential evidence & CCTV availability.
The village has had numerous high value thefts recently, same old story, no one is interested. It seems that that gangs of thieves operating in the area are doing it will total impunity, & no fear of ever getting caught.
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection & punishment to start to bring this back under control?
Have they asked this?
It is infuriating that this happens. We had an XR2 stolen and the police response was awful, apparently what did I expect buying such a car that criminals would take.
When I followed it up the sergeant apologised and pointed out it was not their choice what got prioritised. If the equivalent value was stolen from a bank, the response would be completely different. The bank is insured just the same as a car owner yet somehow it is less important for the car owner.
And to say it is the OEM manufacturers fault, well that may well be the case as we demand ever cleverer cars that open etc is wrong. The fault is the criminals who see the risk reward as not that high to make money.
I never got mine back but had to pay extra from then on for insurance and lost money on the value paid and what the insurance paid out
When I followed it up the sergeant apologised and pointed out it was not their choice what got prioritised. If the equivalent value was stolen from a bank, the response would be completely different. The bank is insured just the same as a car owner yet somehow it is less important for the car owner.
And to say it is the OEM manufacturers fault, well that may well be the case as we demand ever cleverer cars that open etc is wrong. The fault is the criminals who see the risk reward as not that high to make money.
I never got mine back but had to pay extra from then on for insurance and lost money on the value paid and what the insurance paid out
No money in it, organised car criminals are hard to catch and victims don't tend to fall into minority groups that garner special police protection.
They are busy painting rainbows and attending pride parades.
Police like easy pickings twitter trolls, speed camera vans, also courts don't deal with car criminals properly so not worth the effort half the time (1 item in police defence).
If you have a decent tracker they may find your car. NCA do get involved in serious gangs most local police forces are very busy with minor stuff.
They are busy painting rainbows and attending pride parades.
Police like easy pickings twitter trolls, speed camera vans, also courts don't deal with car criminals properly so not worth the effort half the time (1 item in police defence).
If you have a decent tracker they may find your car. NCA do get involved in serious gangs most local police forces are very busy with minor stuff.
We've got a dedicated vehicle crime team again now based on the huge increase in car thefts. We work with them and have had some decent results so hopefully we can start to see the numbers come down a bit.
Sadly CCTV isn't the be all and end all, balaclavas, masks etc all make it pretty much useless, however basic enquires can often turn something up. Did a neighbour see a car they arrived in etc etc? That could be done by the local neighbourhood team or PCSO. I know if I was a neighbourhood officer and cars were going on my patch I'd be out there knocking doors and trying my best to try and stop it.
Sadly CCTV isn't the be all and end all, balaclavas, masks etc all make it pretty much useless, however basic enquires can often turn something up. Did a neighbour see a car they arrived in etc etc? That could be done by the local neighbourhood team or PCSO. I know if I was a neighbourhood officer and cars were going on my patch I'd be out there knocking doors and trying my best to try and stop it.
Greendubber said:
We've got a dedicated vehicle crime team again now based on the huge increase in car thefts. We work with them and have had some decent results so hopefully we can start to see the numbers come down a bit.
Sadly CCTV isn't the be all and end all, balaclavas, masks etc all make it pretty much useless, however basic enquires can often turn something up. Did a neighbour see a car they arrived in etc etc? That could be done by the local neighbourhood team or PCSO. I know if I was a neighbourhood officer and cars were going on my patch I'd be out there knocking doors and trying my best to try and stop it.
Oh what force (sorry police service) is that?Sadly CCTV isn't the be all and end all, balaclavas, masks etc all make it pretty much useless, however basic enquires can often turn something up. Did a neighbour see a car they arrived in etc etc? That could be done by the local neighbourhood team or PCSO. I know if I was a neighbourhood officer and cars were going on my patch I'd be out there knocking doors and trying my best to try and stop it.
Grumps. said:
Manufacturers are making cars harder to steal but that in turn makes thieves adapt the methods to steal them.
It’s a no win situation for them and in fact, some manufacturers haven’t improved their security for years .
I thought most keyless luxury and premium cars had never been simpler, an antenna and a signal scanner if your keys are near by and bam 150k Range is not yours for £300 quid of kit!It’s a no win situation for them and in fact, some manufacturers haven’t improved their security for years .
What are these manufactures doing to make that harder?
Hugo Stiglitz said:
Range Rovers are allegedly being stolen fairly regularly. So much so RR have stopped their insurance scheme on them due to thefts in London?
JLR products are going like hot cakes via relay thefts here. Faraday bag puts a stop to it though but people don't think their shiney Range Rover parked in suburbia would need one....I had a reasonable outcome around 4 1/2 years ago, albeit I had my house broken into, car keys stolen and then taken so a Burglary which probably gave it a higher priority.
Police and forensics came to my house within an hour of me calling, my car was later found around 10 days later on false plates and crashed but again the forensics officer examining the car was spot on, and there was someones blood inside the car so there was an arrest and conviction, albeit for handling stolen goods rather than burglary because he couldn't be linked to my house.
Courts were poor with the sentence though, suspended sentence.
Police and forensics came to my house within an hour of me calling, my car was later found around 10 days later on false plates and crashed but again the forensics officer examining the car was spot on, and there was someones blood inside the car so there was an arrest and conviction, albeit for handling stolen goods rather than burglary because he couldn't be linked to my house.
Courts were poor with the sentence though, suspended sentence.
Greendubber said:
Hugo Stiglitz said:
Range Rovers are allegedly being stolen fairly regularly. So much so RR have stopped their insurance scheme on them due to thefts in London?
JLR products are going like hot cakes via relay thefts here. Faraday bag puts a stop to it though but people don't think their shiney Range Rover parked in suburbia would need one....The new generation of Range Rover (2022/L460) seems to be more resistant to theft so far.
RWD cossie wil said:
Car theft has a major impact on hard working people, yet offenders very rarely get caught, & very rarely get proportionate sentences, surely there has to be a vast increase in detection
Many forces frequently run out of response staff to send to ongoing emergencies these days.Numbers of dedicated traffic officers/Roads Policing unit officers (who might be expected to be interested in hunting for stolen cars and the thieves) have generally fallen nationally for almost the entirety of the 2000s.
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