Events Timeline

For unauthorised vehicle taking numbers, year or year, data from varying sources can be read here.
Vehicle taking history information can be read here.

2025

03/2025 Home Office comment about vehicle crime.

02/2025 Crime and Policing Bill insofar as it relates to vehicle crime.

01/2025 WhatCar report 61,343 vehicles were reported stolen in 2024. Read more here.

01/2025 – The ‘Form a Squad’ cry that went up mid-2024 has yet to see the ‘National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership’ members meet. The ‘launch notes’ were obtained in December 2024 and can be read here. It remains to be seen whether this latest team will fare any better than the 2018 VCT that, to meet every 6 months, gathered 01/2019 (see ‘2019’ below), formulated ‘actions’ but never met again! This partnership is to be overseen by the NPCC, seemingly falling to the ‘Vehicle Lead’ – a role carried out in the officer’s spare time (source).

2024

24/12/2024 – the new ‘National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership’ (referred to below ’06/2024′ VCT’) has yet to meet. Between 2013 and 2023, vehicle theft increased by 85%. The ‘notes for launch’ can be read here.

17/12/2024 – thieves drive off in ‘unstealable’ £183k limited edition Range Rover parked outside owner’s house – just TWO days after he picked it up from dealership. Daily Mail

19/11/2024 – ICO issues a ‘Practice Recommendation’ to the Chief Constable of Staffordshire police, the constabulary having ‘no action plan to improve its information handling process’.

07/11/2024 – a NPCC circular to all Chief Constables regarding ‘weeding’ was issued and can be read here.

03/11/2024 – ‘stolen by fraud'(?) – over half of stolen vehicles are used in other areas of crime such as drug offences. Fewer recovered each year – they’re going abroad. Telegraph.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) lead on car crime role is carried out in the officer’s spare time. Want a premium service, they have to pay for it. You still get the service if you don’t go private but when finance companies pay for an enhanced service, they know it pays dividends

28/08/2024 – Call for an end to ‘weeding’ of PNC LoS markers.

24/08/2024 – FoIA request of WMPCC for car theft data and clarification of analysis.

08/2024 – Weeding PNC LoS Register Entries – NPCC description of the activity

11/07/2024 Disclosure of Makes & Models of stolen vehicles – NPCC advice

06/2024 – a new Vehicle Crime Taskforce (VCT)? with the same aims as those proposed in 2019 i.e. it appears that for the past 4 years, little or no action has occurred. Possibly why there has been an increase in vehicle theft?

05/2024 – email to Staffordshire Constabulary about selective disclosure of crime reports

12/02/2024 – the NPCC meeting notes – vehicle crime.

2023

20/12/2023 – NPCC response to request about 2019 VCT meetings. The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has no knowledge of the 2019 VCT!
The NPCC’s own meetings are NOT minuted.

29/08/2023 – Putting the Brakes on Keyless Car Theft. Wait a minute! Raising issues that were aired by the 2019 VCT years ago and have yet to be addressed? As for keyless car thefts – how many are occurring, what is the size of the problem? Does anyone know? The 2019 VCT raised the issue of better information yet ask a constabulary how many keyless thefts have occurred … unavailable information; not in a readily retrievable format i.e. the would need to review each allegation manually!

07/2023 – NPCC Guidance on Police Disclosure Following Road Traffic Collisions

08/02/2023 – Huge rise in car thefts in the West Midlands as criminals winning the battle – press article, read more here

2022

08/09/2022 – WMP’s FoIA response; non-specific & lack of evidence to support their ‘blocking key signals’ statement.

02/09/2022 – WMPCC lacks information about keyless theft.

26/05/2022 – WMPCC response to request for information about keyless vehicle theft. The WMPCC’s understanding about keyless theft is an issue arises from ‘verbal briefings’ i.e. no records.

28/04/2022 the Home Office responds to the WMPCC about the 101,198 thefts – more than double that the WMPCC conveyed!

23/03/2022 – WMPCC writes to the Home Office about 48,400 vehicle thefts in 2021 – a staggeringly low number the source of which is unknown. How this blatantly flawed approach was received can only be guessed at. The Home Office responded 28/04/2022 (below) setting the record straight.

2021

15/07/2012 – Giles Coren explodes with rage after thieves take his £65,000 eco-Jaguar for second time in three months. Crime closed in 47 minutes. Daily Mail.

23/04/2021 – WMPCC FoIA response for information relating to car theft figures & theft methodology since 2018 – not held!

2020

10/2022 – Merseyside Road Traffic Collisions policy

16/03/2020 – WMPCC holds no information (FoIA response) about:

vehicle theft numbers by manufacturer month on month
the evidence vehicle security/bypass (keyless theft) is to blame for increased car thefts
the number of prosecutions for possession of vehicle security bypass/interference (all technology-related vehicle theft methods) thefts
the developments tackling the security weaknesses that are said to exist in many keyless cars

2019

11/2019 – a new ‘Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicle Salvage’ is issued. Categories ‘C’ & ‘D’ go and ‘S’ (Repairable Structural) & ‘N’ (Repairable Non- Structural) appear.

25/11/2019 r the number of car thefts in the West Midlands reached record levels in 2018, with 10,311 cars being stolen, compared with just 4,518 in 2015 (Birmingham Live)

odd … 08/02/2019 it was reported that in 2018, 7,452 cars were stolen in the West Midlands Police force area compared to 2,521 in 2015
apparently, in 2019, the number of thefts had decreased

20/08/2019 – PCC names cars most likely to be stolen in the West Midlands

13/03/2019 ‘U.K. Vehicle Theft’ document submitted to the Home Office, West Midlands Police (WMP) and the WMP&CC can be found here (registered users).

04/03/2019 – 100 cars stolen a day in West Midlands. The region is one of the worst areas in the country (Express & Star)

22/02/2019 the VCT me – but see 15/01/2019 Home Office VCT meeting agenda 7 minutes – below.

The VCT were to meet every 6 months ‘spearheaded’ by the West Mids Police (WMP) Crime Commissioner. The VCT never met again.

The WMPCC’s meeting notes can be read here.

‘a lot of lessons to be learnt for the police’ … have they learned?
scale of the problem is unknown – as appears to remain the case!

The WMP&CC holds no information about vehicle theft numbers, keyless theft, prosecutions for technology thefts or developments to tackle security weaknesses – FoIA response 16/03/2020.

08/02/2019 The number of cars stolen in the West Midlands has tripled since 2015, according to figures published by a police and crime commissioner (PCC). In 2018, 7,452 cars were stolen in the West Midlands Police force area compared to 2,521 in 2015 – BBC – read more here

and what of the VCT and WM&CC’s assurances … the crime inreased still further over the next years!

22/01/2029 the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has agreed to help the government tackle car crime by making contributions to its new Vehicle Crime Taskforce

Car thefts in the West Midlands have almost tripled since 2015. Mr Jamieson has made tackling the issue a priority for the area’s police – but the crime increased!
Mr Jamieson met with Manufacturers putting pressure on them to close security loopholes in their keyless technology – but was this the problem?
the PCC’s office will sit on the taskforce. Other than the Met, WMP is the only force represented – odd, the Met’ were no in attendance!
The VCT will meet every 6 months – they never met after the initial 02/2019 meeting (above)!
Changes to legislation and potential measures to restrict the sale of tools which can be used to steal vehicles through electronic compromise – fast forward 6 years, a Bill is eventually being presented!

THE WMP&CC:

Through this taskforce I want to see swift action to bring down vehicle thefts and disrupt the operation of organised criminals.

2018

2018 – the Vehicle Crime Taskforce (VCT). The number of thefts had increased substantially and so a ‘force’ was formed to tackle the problem by gathering interested parties, establishing various actions to address:

Vehicle Security
Vehicle Salvage Tools for Stealing
Professional Criminals

19/07/2018 – Car thefts nearly triple – The WMP Police and Crime Commissioner can reveal there were nearly three times as many cars and light goods vehicles stolen in the West Midlands in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2015.

2013

08/2013 – Open Data User Group (ODUG) – Police Stolen Vehicle Data – calling for stolen records to be made available. 2012/13 crime figures & costs.

2011

The British government will no longer provide the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) with funding, effective April 2011. This move is part of governmental budget cuts. AVCIS was to become NaVCIS – read more here.

2009

Launched in October 2009 Action Fraud was to be (and remains, at at 2024) the go-to place for victims of fraud across England and Wales to make an official crime report. But is it any more than a database to be populated by the victims, a black-hole into which crime reports disappear and a means by which local constabularies can avoid activity, respond ‘too complicated, not for us, go on-line’. Arguably better than the allegation being ‘filed on division’ (tossed in a bin). This view may appear harsh, but it is mild in comparison to others:

2024 – Inaction Fraud. The lack of public confidence in Action Fraud has put a significant amount of pressure on City of London Police
2023 – It is plainly evident that there are major shortcomings in Action Fraud and in other parts of the system too, all of which will have adversely affected public confidence (HMICFRS).
2022 – A Justice Committee report into fraud and the justice system found that Action Fraud was “unfit for purpose” and that it was failing victims of crime, leading to the nickname “Inaction Fraud (quote source – Without change, fighting fraud is a losing battle for the UK)
2021 – Hiding behind the Veil of Action Fraud: The Police Response to Economic Crime in England and Wales and Evaluating the Case for Regionalization or a National Economic Crime Agency
2019 – Action Fraud call centre scandal is a result of years of low priority policing of financial crime (The Standard)

In 2018 In October 2018, the Home Affairs Select Committee published its Policing for the Future report, writing about Action Fraud:

“Despite efforts to improve its response to victims of fraud, Action Fraud has irretrievably lost the confidence of the public, and reasonable expectations from victims are not being met. It is sensible to have a centralised reporting facility for fraud, but this must not simply become a way to divert and fob off victims of crime. Most importantly, it must be accompanied by a proper system to investigate crimes and respond to victims, or it will become irrelevant.”

2007

01/2007 the Fraud Act 2006 became law and repealed much of the previous fraud legislation.

2007 GMP commenced Operation Wolverine officers using their powers to seize uninsured vehicles and those driven without the correct licence through a specialist team of traffic officers. The operation appears to have bene a resounding success both in terms of its direct action and deterrent. More than £2 million was recovered through vehicle seizures in 2023. A 2024 article can be read here.

2006

AVCIS (subsequently t be known as NaVCIS) is formed read more here.

2003

07/04/2003 the Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) was introduced on 7 April 2003 to prevent the illegal practice of vehicle cloning/ringing and to keep track of scrapyard vehicles – read more here. It was scrapped in 2015. The VIC literature can be read here.

2002

ACPO/ABI guidelines on the exchange of information between the police and insurance companies and loss adjusters. The draft note for ABI members can be read here.

2000

Operation Igneous: the Kent Police investigation model for motor vehicle theft post 1995. Read more here.

1999

1999 – Vehicle Crime Reduction: Turning the Corner – provided an overview of recent trends in vehicle crime and highlights issues regarding vehicle crime reduction. It supports the work of the newly established Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team (VCRAT) and its contribution towards the 30% vehicle crime reduction target announced by the Prime Minister in September 1998 and provides some guidance to local practitioners on reducing vehicle crime. This target is to be achieved over a five-year period starting 1 April 1999.

Webb and Laycock’s (1992) calculations suggested that insurance fraud accounted for eight per cent of all vehicle theft (page 27 of 65).

1998

09/2018 – Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team established – but was VCRAT simply riding the shirt tails of the improvements manufacturers were making in the course of general design improvements, to include those associated with security? Read more about VCRAT here.

1978

In 1978 the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) approved a recommendation that the supply by Police of routine information to Insurance Companies in connection with loss, burglary and theft, should be discontinued. The guidelines can be read here.