What Are the Trends in Vehicle Crime in the UK?
Posted 09/28/20 by Joe Mckay
Trends in Vehicle Crime in the UK are growing ever more apparent as criminals continue to adapt and increase their knowledge of how to commit these crimes. Criminals have made a living out of stealing vehicles by targeting them in various ways. They now steal vehicles at work, while travelling in public, from people on the street, and even from police officers. In this article, we will be looking at the top three trends which are currently taking place and what you can do to make sure that your vehicle is not one of them.
Google Trends regarding vehicle crime 8th of March until present (accurate at the time of publishing)
Firstly, vehicles that are stolen in the UK are mainly taken for the purpose of committing Vehicle Crime. This means that whilst a thief may be looking to steal your car, they could also be looking to steal a vehicle which can then be used to steal other people’s possessions and vehicles this is particularly the case when it comes to Lorry theft. This is currently taking place as many thefts in the UK involve lorries which are being stolen by criminals who are looking to break into houses or hijack other vehicles where they cannot bypass the immobiliser on the car in-situ. As the number of lorries on the roads increases, so does the number of potential thieves looking for a victim and the tools they need to carry out further crimes.
Secondly, as lorries become more popular on the roads, their owners’ risk is also increasing. The risk is particularly increased when lorries are travelling in high traffic areas where they may be targets of thieves. These include remote motorway services, petrol stations in out of the way areas and even in some cases the Depot. The third type of crime taking place is currently targeting lorry owners who own lorries that still have legitimate registration plates on their vehicles, which are an easy target. This is due to the fact that lorries which are stolen often have valuable cargo on board, and the theft of these cargo often attracts the attention of criminals who then target other lorry drivers for their plates in order to move the stolen cargo across the country or even beyond its borders.
Thirdly, vehicle crime is rising across the country. Some of this rise is linked to increased numbers of cars on the road, and some of this rise is related to thieves’ increased capability to get hold of more advanced tools.
In particular, there is an increasing number of vehicle crimes in London. This is due to the fact population density is directly linked to the increased numbers of vehicle crime in any given area, so it is wise to do some research into your local area to determine how cautious you need to be. As more people move into the capital, there are more opportunities for criminals to steal valuable vehicles in these areas.
Credit ADT — https://www.adt.co.uk/crime-in-my-area
The fourth aspect behind the growing amount of vehicle crime in the UK is the evolution of the way thieves think about breaking into cars and other vehicles. Whilst there are still many people who simply want to break into a car to steal a few possessions, there is also a growing group of organised criminals who are interested in stealing vehicles to use them to commit other crimes such as vehicles that could be for use in armed robbery. These could be any vehicle that suits the criminal’s intent, for instance, the recent spates of moped smash and grab shop raids in wealthier parts of London. This is why it is worth remembering that if you are targeted by thieves not only are you losing your possessions but are also potentially being implicated in other criminal acts.
The fifth problem brought about by increasing vehicle crime and car theft is that it’s causing a huge amount of damage to many cars even when the thieves fail to steal a vehicle. Worse case scenario this can lead to a driver who is unaware his vehicle has been tampered with ending up in a fatal road traffic collision, not to mention increased insurance premiums that are the result of criminal damage to vehicles.
The final trend in the UK is related to the theft of expensive and high quality goods, such as tools from vans. Thieves often break into vans to steal valuable jewellery, electronic equipment and luxury products but invariably they will tend to target tools, these are not only valuable for resale but also can allow the criminals the ability to carry out ever more elaborate thefts. Its estimated that vehicle crime could be costing the English economy alone £132 million per annum and this based on a conservative report by Matthew Heeks, Sasha Reed, Mariam Tafsiri and Stuart Prince published in June 2018 titled “The economic and social costs of crime“
So in summation it’s worth looking into the security of your vehicles’ in depth particularly if you are a fleet company or other business that has an extensive amount of valuable vehicles. 3D Autokeys does offer a wide array of security measures to help you upgrade your company’s fleet here.
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