Annex A

 

Crime Prevention Advice

 

Tackling Vehicle Crime: A Five Year Strategy

<< Back to Introduction

Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team

ANNEX A

The vehicle crime reduction action
team

Chairman

Mike Wear

Ford Motor Company

Secretary

Jacquie Howley

Home Office Vehicle Crime Reduction Section

Members

Jo Dagustun

Association of British Insurers

Peter Edwards

Home Office Crime Reduction Delivery Team (Head
of Volume Crime and Resources)

David Evans

Retail Motor Industry Federation

Malcolm Fendick

Department for Transport

Trevor Horton

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Christopher Macgowan

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

Michael McAndrew

Superintendents Association � Metropolitan
Police

John McLean

Association of Chief Police Officers (Scotland)
� Strathclyde Police

Alistair Manson

Retail Motor Industry Federation

Bert Morris

Automobile Association

Nick Nolan

Local Government Association – Coventry City
Council

Ken Pease

Home Office Research Development and Statistics
Directorate

Colin Petter

Home Office Vehicle Crime Reduction Section

Bob Quick

Association of Chief Police Officers � Surrey
Police

Dennis Roberts

Department for Transport

John Rowell

Scottish Executive

 

The vehicle crime reduction action
team task groups

DVLA issues and secure number plates

Chairman: Mr Dennis Roberts

Director, Road Transport Directorate,
Department for Transport


Secured Car Parks

Chairman: DCC Bob Quick

Surrey Police


Parts Marking

Chairman: Mr Christopher Macgowan

Chief Executive, Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders


New Car Security

Chairman: Mr Malcolm Fendick

Head of Vehicle Standards and Engineering
Division, Department for Transport


Enhanced Vehicle Crime Data

Chairman: Mr Colin Petter

Head of Vehicle Crime Reduction Section, Home
Office


Publicity/Media

Chairman: Mr Mike Wear

Director of Fleet Operations, Ford Motor
Company


Information Systems Task Group

Chairman: Tom Lloyd QPM

DCC Cambridgeshire Constabulary


Motorcycle Theft Action Group

Chairman: Mr Frank Finch

Director, Retail Motor Industry Federation


Powered Two Wheelers

Chairman: Mr Geoff Sherley

Chief Executive, Motor Cycle Industry
Association Ltd


Plant Theft Action Group

Chairman: Mr Kevin Clancy

Joint Managing Director, Clancy Docwra


Joint Action Group on Lorry Theft

Chairman: Mr Bob Quick

DCC, Surrey Police


Leisure Sector Theft Action Group

Chairman: Mr Alan Bishop

Director General, National Caravan Council Ltd

ANNEX B

The “14 Point” Action Plan to reduce
vehicle crime

1. To promote the ACPO Secured Car Park scheme.

Issue: Theft of and from vehicles (around 120,000 and
200,000 respectively per year); the fear/perception of
crime and criminal damage to vehicles. The aim is to
achieve 2,000 Award car parks by the end of the year
2000.

2. To develop the DVLA contribution to reducing
vehicle crime.

Issue: Vehicle ringing and cloning; improve checks
for buyers of used vehicles; assist police with road
traffic enforcement; mileage clocking; improve
effectiveness of ANPR by having more up to date vehicle
keeper records/access to insurance data and computerised
MOT data.

3. To improve vehicle perimeter security (door
locks and glazing).

Issue: Theft of and from vehicles made easier by
allowing thief access to the cabin space.

4. To develop EC standards for window etching and
visible VIN.

Issue: Visible VIN (vehicle identification number) is
an aid to police officers, allowing them to carry out
vehicle identification checks without the need to have
cause to search the vehicle. Also deters ringers. The
visible VIN needs to be in a standard format and in a
common position on every vehicle to maximise this
benefit.

5. To develop standards for marking the main
vehicle component parts.

Issue: Unmarked component parts make it easier for
ringers to hide the true identity of a vehicle and make
it more difficult/impossible for the police to determine
the identity of a “donor” vehicle.

6. To regulate the motor salvage industry.

Issue: Unscrupulous elements of the motor salvage
industry provide the identities of wrecked vehicles for
ringers, as well as facilitating the trade in stolen
parts. The industry is not regulated by law (unlike the
scrap metal industry), except for the disposal of
hazardous waste.

7. To improve used vehicle security.

Issue: Used cars are much more susceptible to theft
because of the levels of security employed. Targeted by
opportunists for “joy riding” and to supply
the lucrative spare parts market. A 12-year old car is
14 times more likely to be stolen than a new car.

8. To improve the security of number plates.

Issue: All vehicle ringing requires a change of
number plates but there is no regulation on who can
supply plates, and no identity ownership checks required
before a set of plates is supplied. In addition, the
practice of altering the spacing and fonts on number
plates makes it more difficult/impossible for ANPR
cameras to read the plates.

9. To develop improved vehicle crime data.

Issue: Insufficient, inaccurate and incomplete
vehicle theft and recovery data; inconsistent crime
recording between forces; incomplete historical records
of vehicle theft data.

10. To consider having vehicles inspected before
they are given insurance.

Issue: Primarily vehicle insurance fraud, where the
owner insures a previously damaged vehicle as in good
condition and then makes a fraudulent claim to have the
damage repaired. If the vehicle had to be inspected
before it was insured then other checks could be made
including owner/insurer identification.

11. To put controls on the export of motor
vehicles.

Issue: Stolen vehicles being exported from the UK,
either in containers or via the Channel Tunnel or
ferries to the European mainland. There is currently no
requirement to show full details on shipping documents
for container transport.

12. To consider opportunities for external
funding for vehicle crime reduction initiatives.

Issue: Insufficient police resources trained in
vehicle crime techniques to work on, or form specialist
stolen vehicle squads, or simply to set up specific
vehicle crime investigations. (“Michigan”
initiative in the US � levy on insurance policies;
Operation Pimpernel in Merseyside � funding from the
Finance & Leasing Association)

13. To make it mandatory for drivers to carry
their vehicle documents.

Issue: There is no requirement for drivers to carry
their documents � driving licence, insurance
certificate and MOT. Present arrangements, whereby
drivers are required to present their documents to the
nearest police station are both cumbersome and expensive
for the police to operate.

14. To develop police best practice models.

Issue: Many police officers openly acknowledge that
forces are bad at sharing knowledge. At best this leads
to �re-inventing the wheel� and at worst vehicle
crime reduction techniques and initiatives are simply
not utilised at all.

<< Back to Introduction

 

 

Last update:  September 2003