Chairman’s Introduction and the Summary

 

Crime Prevention Advice

 

Tackling Vehicle Crime: A Five Year Strategy

Issued by the – Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team

This page contains the Chairman’s Introduction and the Summary of
Action Points. The complete document is available in an HTML version.

Chairman�s Introduction

  1. The Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team was set up in September
    1998 to carry forward the work necessary to meet the Government�s
    target for reducing theft of and from vehicles by 30% over the 5
    year period 1 April 1999 – 31 March 2004. This means that, on the
    basis of currently available recorded crime figures, we need to see
    a reduction from 1.1 million to 783,000 offences � a fall of
    317,000 offences over the 5 years.

  2. This document sets out how we propose to deliver that reduction.
    It reflects contributions from the broad range of interests
    represented on the Action Team and the Task Groups that report to
    it. These include representatives from motor manufacturers and
    retailers, insurers, the salvage industry, car park owners and
    operators, consumers, the police and Government Departments. A list
    of Action Team members and the 13 Task Groups that report to the
    Action Team is attached at Annex A. I am grateful to all of them for
    making available their time and expertise. Our recommendations do,
    of course, reflect our own collective view rather than, necessarily,
    that of the various organisations from which we are drawn.

  3. The starting point for the Action Team�s work was the “14
    Point Plan” for reducing vehicle crime (Annex B), which had
    been jointly developed by the Association of Chief Police Officers
    (ACPO), the Home Office and the Department of the Environment,
    Transport and the Regions. This is reflected in many of our
    proposals that address the issues we regarded as the highest
    priority. The Action Team has yet to develop its views on regulating
    the export of vehicles, and the issue of external funding and, in
    particular, the “Michigan Scheme”. We have agreed not to
    proceed with work on the “pre-insurance inspection law”,
    because it was felt to be impractical, in the light of earlier
    unsuccessful attempts to introduce such a scheme.

  4. The Action Team commissioned each of the Task Groups to produce a
    plan setting out key issues and how they could deliver their
    contribution to the target. Their proposals are reflected in this
    strategy document. The message from the work of the Action Team and
    the Task Groups is that we can meet the target by:

    – improved security on new cars, benefiting from the widespread
    fitting of electronic immobilisers on new cars from around 1992
    (and which became compulsory under EU law from 1998).
    Encouraging manufacturers to fit deadlocks and other security
    features on a wider range of models will help reduce
    “thefts from” as well as “thefts of”
    vehicles;

    – improving used car security to reduce substantially the number
    of “thefts of”. This can be achieved, in particular,
    by the widespread fitting of electronic immobilisers. Whether to
    legislate for this is a matter for Government but the Action
    Team believes this is the surest way to achieve our common
    objective. Encouraging retailers to promote, and consumers to
    buy, a package of security measures for used cars will also help
    reduce both “thefts from” as well as “thefts
    of”;

    – better policing and community responses which target prolific
    offenders, crime “hotspots” and the market for stolen
    goods. Measures to make it more difficult for vehicles or their
    contents to be stolen are not enough on their own. We also need
    to focus on potential offenders and areas of high crime. There
    is a large prize here in being able to tackle by these means the
    large number of “thefts from” which make up two-thirds
    of all recorded vehicle crime;

    – improving car park security. About 22% of all vehicle crime
    takes place in car parks so successfully tackling this will make
    a sizeable contribution to meeting the target;

    – developing new procedures at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing
    Agency and working with the motor salvage industry to stop
    stolen vehicles being given the identity of other, legitimate,
    vehicles. Improving regulation of the salvage industry will also
    help to stop vehicles being stolen for spare parts. Reducing the
    market for stolen vehicles in this way will mean that they have
    less value to the thief who will in turn have less to gain by
    stealing them in the first place.

     

  5. The measure with the biggest single pay-off is the widespread
    fitting of electronic immobilisers on new and used cars �
    producing about half of the total target reduction required. The
    graph below at Figure 1 shows our estimate of the combined impact of
    the measures we propose, assuming the Government agrees to require
    electronic immobilisers to be fitted on used cars 7-10 years old and
    that this takes effect from April 2001 (i.e. to apply to cars
    registered during 1991-1994). But an important message � reflected
    in the membership of the Action Team and our approach to the task
    � is that we have to move forward on all fronts to tackle vehicle
    crime. We need a comprehensive and coherent approach.

Mike Wear, Chairman
Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team
September 1999

An explanation of the crime reduction contribution from each Task
Group is available from the Home Office, Crime Targets Task Force, at 50
Queen Anne�s Gate, London SW1H 9AT (TEL: 020 7273 3351/3884).

 

Summary of action points

Chapter 2 � Better vehicle security

  • The law should be changed so as to require used cars 7-10 years
    old to be fitted with electronic immobilisers. (i.e. cars registered
    during 1991-1994, if legislation were to take effect from April
    2001). (Paragraph 9).

  • Manufacturers should be encouraged to fit deadlocks more widely on
    the new car model range, particularly on cars produced in volume.
    (Paragraph 10).

  • Manufacturers should be encouraged to fit laminated glazing more
    widely on the new car model range. (Paragraph 11).

  • A used car security package should be agreed with retailer
    representatives and promoted by the industry to consumers.
    (Paragraph 14).

  • Consumers should be provided with more information about the
    security features of new cars and the recommended security package
    for used cars so that it informs their purchasing decisions.
    (Paragraph 10 & 14).

  • There should be a comprehensive end user registration scheme for
    trailers and certain plant and equipment. (Paragraph 16/19)

  • Trailers exceeding an unladen weight of 1020 kgs should be
    recognised as vehicles and allocated a Vehicle Identification Number
    (VIN). (Paragraph 19)

Chapter 3 � Better enforcement

  • The Police Service to identify good practice in dealing with
    vehicle crime and then spread it to all forces so that the
    performance of all is raised to that of the best. (Paragraph 3).

  • Police officers should be given training in key vehicle crime
    reduction messages. (Paragraph 5).

  • The law should be changed so as to allow the police access at the
    roadside, via the Police National Computer, to DVLA driver records.
    (Paragraph 8).

  • Plans in hand for MOT records to be computerised and the Motor
    Insurance Database, an initiative of the motor insurance industry,
    will significantly improve the information available to the police
    at the roadside. (Paragraph 9).

Chapter 4 � Safer environment

  • Regional Development Managers to follow up leads stemming from the
    recent Home Office Minister of State�s letter and other
    initiatives promoting the Secure Car Park scheme. (Paragraph 8).

  • A Secured Car Park Directory should be published, initially in the
    North-West, to make information about the location of Secured Car
    Parks more widely known. (Paragraph 9).

  • Local authorities should be encouraged to erect road signs with a
    distinctive logo so that consumers may identify car parks with
    “secured” status more readily. (Paragraph 9).

  • A wider publicity campaign should include the Secured Car Park
    initiative so as to raise public awareness and encourage their use.
    (Paragraph 9).

Chapter 5 � Modernising information systems

  • A direct link should be established between the Motor Industry
    Anti-Fraud and Theft Register (MIAFTR) and DVLA. (Paragraph 2).

  • Extending the coverage of information held on MIAFTR to include
    fleet and other vehicles, where owners carry their own uninsured
    losses, should be investigated. (Paragraph 2).

  • The proposed computerisation of MOT records and the Motor
    Insurance Database of insured drivers should both link into the
    Police National Computer to provide police officers at the roadside
    with ready access to information. (Paragraph 2).

  • A separate Task Group of the Action Team should be established to
    look for appropriate linkages between different information systems.
    (Paragraph 4).

Chapter 6 � Better regulation

Salvage industry

  • The existing Motor Conference Code of Practice for the disposal of
    motor salvage should be enhanced. (Paragraph 8).

  • The coverage of the Code of Practice should be extended to include
    companies such as fleet hire companies and others that self-insure.
    (Paragraph 8).

  • The Action Team should give further consideration to the question
    of legislation to prevent vehicle owners being allowed to retain
    salvage and giving legislative protection to manufacturers� marks
    on parts. (Paragraph 10 & 12).

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

  • Legislation should be considered and resources provided to:

    • Require proof of identity of the applicant when a Vehicle
      Registration Document (V5) is issued. (Paragraph 15).

    • Make it compulsory for the Vehicle Registration Document to
      transfer with the vehicle when it is sold. (Paragraph 15).

    • Require production of the Vehicle Registration Document with
      an application for a Vehicle Excise Duty licence, if not
      submitted on a V11 form. (Paragraph 15).

    • Make collection of mileage data compulsory. (Paragraph 15).

    • Collect more data on seriously damaged vehicles and record it
      on the Vehicle Registration Document. (Paragraph 15)

  • Public awareness should be raised about the importance of the
    Vehicle Registration Document and the need to see it before
    completing a purchase. (Paragraph 16).

  • The Action Team should consider further the options for tightening
    up on the supply of number plates and the information they might
    contain. (Paragraph 18).

Chapter 7 � What the motorist can do to help

  • Communication strategies need to be developed alongside each
    initiative, aimed both at practitioners and those affected by
    vehicle crime. (Paragraph 2).

  • The profile of vehicle crime needs to be raised in a properly
    co-ordinated way, providing a foundation on which localised
    communications activity can build. (Paragraph 2).

  • A long-term programme of communications and publicity should be
    developed in order to provide information and advice to motorists
    about vehicle security issues. (Paragraph 2).

 

Last update:  17 September 2003