Vehicle Taking – Quantity not Quality

Vehicle Taking – ‘Picking Low-Hanging Fruit’

Did UK Authorities intend to address:

• vehicle theft; the conduct of professional & organised criminals intending to permanently deprive an owner of their vehicle for profit or
• were they content to enjoy the benefits of manufacturer security improvements that saw the casual taking of vehicles designed out?

By reference to a 1999 publication, Authorities seem concerned with the numbers, content, for appearance’s sake, to pick the low-hanging fruit:

• At the national level temporary theft is a greater problem in volume terms than professional theft.
• As the 30% reduction target is a volume target, an emphasis should therefore be placed on tackling those involved in temporary theft*.

As more vehicles were fitted with sophisticated electronic security, the Neanderthal, reliant upon forcibly overcoming door and ignition locks, was thwarted.

However, professional thieves could carry on, and benefit from the situation; at worse inconvenienced by security improvements, not the subject of attention, crime numbers plummeting and with law enforcement moving on to other areas of crime, the environment may have improved for the organised who steal-to-profit.

Is it any wonder ONS data shows an 85% increase in vehicle taking from 2013/14 to 2022/23 with ‘the majority of vehicle theft offences believed to be committed by organised crime groups’ (NVCRP 2024)

* 09/1999 – Vehicle Crime Reduction: Turning the Corner – read more here