19/07/2018 – West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner:
“Now it is time for consumers to see for themselves how secure the cars they are buying really are.
That is why I have chosen to name and shame car manufactures in this way and I will continue to do so until they improve security and help reduce thefts.
07/02/2019 Cars most likely to be stolen, named by WMP&CC
‘The Police and Crime Commissioner is so angry at the apparent ease at which criminals are stealing cars that he is naming and shaming manufacturers whose vehicles are being taken most often.‘
Source – WMP&CC
22/07/2024 – West Midlands Police:
‘ … we will not reveal the makes and models of stolen vehicles (recent National advice) as this can / could cause damage to the specific makes and models companies reputations’.
01/07/2023 to 01/07/2023 WMP total number of vehicles reported stolen – 13,431
Request for the total number of Jaguar, Land Rover or Range Rover vehicles stolen in the specified period
Response:
This information is recorded in a non-mandatory property field in the recorded crime system. This field is not always completed by officers and the information can be recorded in numerous places within the crime.
In order to locate this information accurately we would need to complete an individual search of all 13431 crimes recorded. However, we have searched Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover within this non-manda
tory property field. The results show that two Jaguar cars were recorded as stolen. The result for the other named vehicles was zero.
Request for the total number of Jaguar, Land Rover or Range Rover vehicles stolen in the specified period without keys (without the use of the owner’s keys or key fob).
The two recorded Jaguar crimes recorded in question 3 above do not state that these vehicles were as a result of a keyless crime or not, it merely states stolen.
14/08/2024 The National Advice [re disclosure of makes & models of stolen vehicles]:
CRU advice:
The policing lead has confirmed their view is that the requested information is NOT suitable for disclosure. The relevant exemptions are s43(2) and s31(1).
The rationale for s43(2) is that revealing under FOI which makes and models of cars are more prone to theft, confirms the names of manufacturers whose vehicles have either a lower level of security, are more often the focus of criminal activity or both.
For such information to be publicly confirmed under FOI would result in prejudice to the commercial interests of the manufacturers in question, making their position in what is a highly competitive market, weaker. In other words, as a result of information provided under FOI by the force, it would be more likely than not that individuals would refrain from purchasing certain makes of vehicle over others.
S31(1) applies due to the risk that providing data to the public at large risks identifying to everyone, including criminals and those with criminal intent, the vehicles which are most commonly stolen, i.e. have a lower
level of security feature or are more attractive to the criminal fraternity.
Revealing a vehicle is more susceptible to successfully being stolen increases levels of crime involving any such vehicle, whether than be opportunistic theft or as a target of more organised crime – undermining law enforcement.
Form of Words:
Overall harm:
The information withheld is liable to cause significant commercial prejudice to car manufacturers in the event of its disclosure. Confirming which brands of car are the most stolen is highly likely to discourage the public from purchasing cars from that supplier, severely impacting their ability to compete in the current market.
Additionally, relationships between policing and the suppliers would undoubtedly be damaged by the disclosure of the withheld information.
It is important that information is protected which would undermine current and future engagements and proposals the police service may have with car manufacturers.
Disclosure of information about the makes and models of stolen vehicles risks identifying to criminals and those with criminal intent, a detailed picture of the types of vehicles which are most commonly stolen, and as such could be determined to have a lower level of security features.
Criminals or those with criminal intent could use this information to then target these types of vehicles with more prevalence, increasing the level of vehicle theft.
Public interest considerations:
Factors favouring disclosure – s43
Disclosing the information would raise awareness of vehicle crime within the general public, potentially promoting greater vigilance and incident reporting to police.
Factors favouring non-disclosure s43:
If information was to be disclosed it risks compromising the commercial interests of vehicle manufacturers who work closely with police to tackle vehicle crime. A disclosure of specific manufacturer names would undermine
the commercial viability of these manufacturers in a competitive market. It would also erode the trust and confidence between the police and the manufacturers they work with.
Factors favouring disclosure – s31
Disclosure of the information would reassure the public that the police have accurate knowledge of the types of vehicles which are being stolen and as such can effectively tackle vehicle theft.
Factors favouring non-disclosure s31:
Disclosure of the information would assist offenders and leave significant volumes of vehicles more vulnerable to crime; as a result, the rate of vehicle crime would increase.
Disclosure of the requested information would also risk weakening the partnership working approach between police and vehicle manufacturers which would ultimately undermining the police’s ability to combat vehicle theft effectively. A reduction in partnership working and increased risk of crime as a result of disclosure cannot be in
the public interest.
However, when Staffordshire police were asked to disclose the total number of Jaguar, Land Rover or Range Rover vehicles stolen in the specified period
Q2: Total number of Jaguar, Land Rover or Range Rover vehicles stolen between 1st July 2023 – 1st July 2024, they responded:
Jaguar 44
Land Rover 205
Range Rover 11
Source – WDTK
Linked:
19/07/2018 – Car thefts nearly triple in the West Midlands in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2015 – WMP&CC
08/02/2019 – Is your car vulnerable to keyless theft? Fed-up West Midlands police chief reveals brands most commonly targeted by criminal gangs – ThisIsMoney
23/11/2023 – PCC urges car manufacturers to sort out security failings
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