Vehicle Theft: Are We Asking the Right Questions?
Does anyone truly understand modern vehicle taking? More importantly – does anyone care? A couple of decades ago, the public were lulled into a false sense of security as taking figures plummeted. The ‘low hanging fruit’ had been picked off not due to any concerted Authority activity but thanks to manufacturer attention – the heroes of the day. How soon we forget!
Today, the go-to explanation for unauthorised taking is “keyless theft” or “security bypass.” Convenient, easy to accept, and a tidy excuse. But does this narrative serve a deeper agenda?
News headlines warn about high-tech criminals intercepting signals and hacking car security systems. It’s a real threat – cars are valuable, and the risk-to-reward ratio favours thieves. But is the emergence and claimed increase of keyless theft masking a larger, overlooked issue?
The Shift in Car Theft Tactics
For years, criminals were said to fish keys through letterboxes using rods and hooks. Now, seemingly, they have “evolved” into tech-savvy hackers. But did all those old-school thieves suddenly become experts in digital crime? Or was “key fishing” a convenient myth – one that disappeared (became unheard of) the moment a more publicly palatable explanation for vehicle theft took its place?
Keyless theft is an easy culprit to blame. But could it also be a shield …
- Helping dishonest individuals distance themselves from a financial burden or suspicious/reckless circumstances involving their vehicle?
- Enabling constabularies to downgrade a crime from burglary (entering a property to gain keys); promptly recorded as a low priority ‘taking’ offence requiring no investigation/attendance, closed promptly.
The Missing Data on Keyless Theft
Despite the public outcry, the scale of the keyless car theft problem remains unclear. Even the authorities do not appear to have solid data.
A Vehicle Crime Taskforce (VCT) was launched to tackle rising vehicle crime, particularly in the West Midlands, where thefts were spiking. A key goal of their 01/2019 meeting?
Better information about the methods used to commit vehicle theft, including how often those methods are used in practice, is key to understanding the threat
Attendees agreed that better information about the methods used to commit vehicle theft was key to understanding the threat and therefore whether additional preventative measures may be required.
But following this one gathering, the ‘taskforce’ vanished.
Some constabularies were asked for keyless theft statistics – none could provide them. The excuse? The data is not stored in a “readily retrievable format.” When asked for information about vehicle taking ^ methodologies, the WMPCC responded ‘There is no correspondence held within the Offices of the Police and Crime Commissioner relating to this subject’.
Even the West Midlands Police, at the centre of the crisis, could provide no figures. Their best assessment of keyless theft trends? A vague gut feeling. Yet:
The Group agreed that organised crime groups were likely behind some of the rise as evidenced by the low recovery rate, vehicles being moved out of the country and vehicle parts moved on. This may reflect perceptions that this is a low risk and high reward crime.
The WMPCC was to ‘spearhead’ the VCT as vehicle taking had almost tripled since 2015. Yet the taskforce never met after 01/2019 and the incidence of the crime continued to rise.
What Happens Next?
If keyless theft is such a major issue, why is there no reliable data to track it?
Is it really the leading method of vehicle crime, or just the easiest to blame?
The truth is, we do not know. And that is a real problem.
Another is the ease with which, in the absence of data, manufacturers are blamed.
Time for action, not distraction.
26/07/2024, West Midlands Police, asked for information about keyless vehicle thefts, and responded:
We do not have a search criterion for this “keyless” data – therefore it would require a search of in excess of 14000 records to assess whether or not it was a keyless activity. This would exceed the cost for the purpose of the FOI act.
Vehicle Crime Taskforce (VCT) meeting notes – Home Office source, the most comprehensive
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) had ‘no knowledge of the Group (VCT)‘.