Crime Prevetion Advice
Tackling Vehicle Crime: A Five Year Strategy
Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team
1: Context and history
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The Government’s target is to reduce vehicle crime by 30% over the 5 year period 1 April 1999 – 31 March 2004, using as a baseline the recorded vehicle crime figures for 1998/99. (Vehicle crime is defined as theft of a vehicle, unauthorised taking of a vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking and theft from a vehicle). Achieving the target will make a real difference to people’s lives with over 300,000 fewer offences by the end of the 5 year period.
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The graph below shows the pattern of vehicle crime over the period 1979-1998. There was a sharp rise in the early 1990s, which peaked in 1992. Although not the sole reason, the relative decline in the incidence of "thefts of" since 1979 (from 53% to 36% of all vehicle crime) probably reflects improved car security.
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Vehicle crime is the largest single category of recorded crime. The latest published figures (for the year 1997/98) show 1,096,022 offences, which account for 24% of all recorded crime.
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400,524 of these offences were thefts of vehicles and 695,498 were thefts from vehicles.
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There are about 37.5 million vehicles in Great Britain registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and cars are the largest single category. They account for about 72% of the total but a disproportionately high rate of 81% of all types of vehicle theft. Information about estimated rates of theft for other types of vehicle and associated rates of recovery is given in the table below: Table 1 - Estimated theft and recovery rates
CARS LIGHT COMM HEAVY GOODS MOTORCYCLE PLANT/LEISURE Theft of: (approx) * 81% 9% 1% 6% 3% Recovery rate: (approx) # 70% 41% 12% 14% 10%-30%
Source: * Cars = Home Office Car Theft Index 1997; Light commercials = PRG Paper 88 1998; Heavy Goods = PRG Paper 66 1995; Motorcycles = Met Police SVS 1998; Plant/leisure = industry estimate 1998.
[Note: Unpublished Home Office PRCU research on motorcycle theft between October 1994 and September 1995 indicates a recovery rate of 28%]
# Cars = calculated from Criminal Statistics England & Wales 1997; Light commercials = PRG Paper 88 1998; Heavy Goods = PRG Paper 66 1995; Motorcycles = Met Police SVS 1998; Plant/leisure = industry estimate 1998. -
The most recently available Home Office Car Theft Index (published in 1997 and based on theft data for 1996) shows that cars more than 4 years old have a significantly higher risk of theft than newer cars, with the rate of risk peaking at 12 year old cars. In terms of absolute numbers of cars stolen, the peak age was 9 year old cars.
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The British Crime Survey (1998) is the best available source of information about thefts from vehicles. The tables below show the main items stolen, reported to the police and location of thefts. Overall 43% of incidents of thefts from cars and light vans were reported to the police. Thefts involving car radios/stereos are most frequently reported (72%).
Table 2 - Main items stolen External fittings (aerials/badges/wheel trims/hub caps and number plates)
36% Personal goods (bags/briefcases/cameras/ computers and clothes)
29% Radio/stereo
27% Tools in car/van
6% Wheels/tyres
5%
Table 3 - Main items stolen and reported to the police Car radio/stereo stolen and reported
72% External fittings stolen and reported
16% All other items stolen and reported (the majority of which would be bags/ briefcases/ cameras/computers and clothes)
56%
Table 4 - Theft location Home garage
1%
Street by work
1%
Workplace car park
5%
General street parking
14%
Public car park
19%
Semi-private car park *
22%
Street by home
36%
* Driveway/row of garages/car parking at home (e.g. estate car park). -
Vehicle crime has been steadily reducing since 1992 and is now at its lowest level since 1989. But there is much more to be done. It remains the largest single category of recorded crime, causing obvious distress to victims. It can act as the gateway to the commission of other serious offences such as drug trafficking and terrorism and other forms of criminality. Tackling it successfully will have substantial knock-on effects on these offences as well. There is also a huge cost to vehicle crime, estimated to be at least £3.5 billion a year including the costs of the criminal justice system.
2: Better vehicle security
Cars
1. The Home Office published last year guidelines for new car security. This listed key security features and the time they should be able to withstand attack using the tools and methods commonly employed by thieves. These covered:
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perimeter security;
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immobilisation;
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making the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) visible and marking at least 10 original manufacturer’s major component parts with a traceable identifier; and
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making manufacturers options such as in-car entertainment more difficult to steal.
In addition, after-theft vehicle recovery systems (tracking devices) have proved helpful in recovering stolen vehicles and assisting the police in the apprehension of offenders.
"The most significant security development has been the increasingly widespread fitting of electronic immobilisers"
2. The guidelines also covered the need for a quality management system to ensure that parts of a vehicle’s security system, such as keys, are only sold to those with a legitimate need. Whilst much progress has been made in recent years in making cars harder to steal, following this guidance will enable manufacturers to raise standards further and increase their contribution to reducing vehicle crime.
Electronic immobilisers
3. The most significant security development in recent years has been the increasingly widespread fitting by manufacturers of electronic immobilisers. These are generally regarded as effective in preventing the theft of cars and have doubtless helped in achieving the 26% reduction in vehicle crime that has taken place over the last 5 years ending March 1998. "Thatcham" (the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre) say that "a properly fitted, approved quality, passively arming electronic immobiliser will prevent the theft of a vehicle by an opportunist thief and its effectiveness will endure".
4. In broad terms, the opportunist thief is thought responsible for the theft of those cars, which are eventually recovered, with the professional thief responsible for those which are not. As shown in Chapter 1 (Table 1) 70% of cars are eventually recovered so it is clear that more widespread fitting of electronic immobilisers will stop a large number of thefts.
5. Electronic immobilisers began to be widely fitted by manufacturers to new cars from around 1992 and became compulsory under EU law from 1998. The benefits of this will increase with time as more vehicles come onto the parc that have electronic immobilisers fitted and more of the older ones that do not have them are scrapped. The combined effect of this will prevent about 120,000 offences over 5 years – and is the largest single contributor to meeting the target.
"voluntary measures on their own would not get the best out of electronic immobilisation"6. However, the greater challenge is to achieve the more widespread fitting of electronic immobilisers on used cars as it is always more difficult to get improvements once cars are on the roads than when they are being manufactured. The older the car the less likely it will be to have an electronic immobiliser fitted. However, the benefits of an electronic immobiliser will only be achieved if it is professionally fitted. The Vehicle Security Installation Board (VSIB) operates a scheme that accredits installers. The estimated cost of supplying and professionally fitting an approved electronic immobiliser is about £75.
7. The Action Team looked at two options for getting electronic immobilisers fitted onto more used cars:
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Voluntary fitting – encouraged through publicity and other incentives;
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Changing the law to require cars in certain registration years to have them fitted and for this to be enforced through the MOT.
9. We suggest that cars 7-10 years old at the time
the law is changed (i.e. cars registered during 1991-1994,
if legislation were to take effect from April 2001)
should be required to fit electronic immobilisers over
a 4 year period. This will produce the biggest gain
and have the longest lasting effect. Many newer cars
will already have electronic immobilisation fitted and
older cars will have only limited benefit before they
are scrapped. It will also match the industry annual
capacity to supply and fit electronic immobilisers which
we put at about 1.4 million. We estimate that mandatory
immobilisation would deliver over 60,000 fewer offences
over the period of the target (assuming a start is made
in April 2001).
| Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre ("Thatcham")
UK Motor Insurers regard the fitting of Thatcham compliant immobilisers, by professional installers (such as those accredited by the Vehicle Security Installation Board) as the single most positive action in the fight against car crime; Of the 1 million plus vehicles sold in 1998 by the top 5 manufacturers and fitted with Thatcham compliant immobilisers, less than 0.25% were stolen during the year. Of those that were stolen, fraud featured as the most frequent cause; The Thatcham administered Insurance Security Scheme has highlighted the need for vehicle manufacturers to improve the design of their door locking systems. |
Improved vehicle
and plant security
Clancy-Docwra (a Utility and Civil Engineering Contractor) fitted immobilisers and after-theft recovery systems on their vehicles after they lost 11 vans through theft in 1996; and after-theft recovery systems on their compressors after losing 12 of them in 1996; Since then, no vehicles have been stolen and there has been only one recordable loss of a compressor. |
Deadlocks
10. Deadlocks are seen as effective in reducing "thefts from" as well as "thefts of". The 1998 British Crime Survey showed that forcing door locks was used to gain entry in 32% of "thefts from" and 67% of "thefts of". The Action Team estimate that about 30% of the new car model range now have deadlocks fitted as standard but EU legislation would be required to compel manufacturers to fit them. This is not a realistic prospect within the time frame of the target. In the absence of EU legislation, manufacturers should be encouraged to fit them more widely, particularly on cars produced in large volumes. Providing consumers with more information would help them make informed choices when making purchasing decisions.
Laminated glazing
11. Laminated glazing also has a potentially significant role in reducing "thefts from" as well as "thefts of". The 1998 British Crime Survey showed that 49% of "thefts from" and 15% of "thefts of" were achieved by breaking windows. A few manufacturers already offer this as an option on higher specification models but EU legislation would be needed to require manufactures to fit it on all cars. Again, this is not a realistic prospect within the time frame of the target, but manufacturers should nevertheless be encouraged to fit laminated glazing to side and rear windows. We do not, however, expect laminated glazing to make a significant impact on achieving the target.
"30% of the new car model range now have deadlocks fitted"
Used car security package
12. The key element of a security package, which will make cars harder to steal, is an electronic immobiliser. The package should also help reduce thefts from cars. Other elements are etching Vehicle Identification or Vehicle Registration Numbers on the glazing and marking these numbers on in-car entertainment. These will give the thief more work to do in attempting to disguise the identity of the stolen car or in-car entertainment. Introducing locking wheel nuts will prevent the theft of wheels.
13. The Action Team believes this package to be appropriate to most used cars. However, where the cost is not justified by the value of the car (and it falls outside our proposals for mandatory fitment of electronic immobilisers), a "Thatcham" compliant mechanical immobiliser could sensibly be used instead.
14. The Action Team is discussing with retailer representatives the possibility of industry support in promoting the security package to consumers. Our aim will be to have an agreed/recognised security package adopted next year so that car buyers will know when considering the purchase of a used car whether it carries the recognised security package.
Plant and equipment
15. The Home Office published Plant Security Guidance last year, which recommended manufacturers to mark major component parts with 17 digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and covert markings, abolish the "single key" which could be used to operate any item of plant and improve immobilisation and perimeter security. This guidance has been augmented by a voluntary Code of Practice, which has been sent to major UK manufacturers. This specifies the requirements in more detail and establishes a rolling programme for implementation by manufacturers, beginning in October 2000.
16. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have, for some years, offered an extra-statutory concession which enables operators to register mechanically propelled off-road construction plant without the need to license. However, the Action Team believes that the benefits of VIN can only be fully realised if there is a comprehensive registration system, similar to that operated by the (DVLA) for motor vehicles, and is developing proposals as to how this could be achieved.
"The research also indicated that 20% of the survey respondents did not have any security measures in force at the time of the theft"
17. Home Office research has indicated that of equipment stolen, 24% was stolen from building sites, and a further 17% from depots. The research also indicated that 20% of the survey respondents did not have any security measures in force at the time of the theft. This shows that more needs to be done to raise awareness of site security amongst companies, and this will be one of the areas to be addressed by the Action Team in the publicity strategy which is being developed.
"The advice is only to purchase security products that have been professionally tested"
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Sold Secure (a division of the Master Locksmiths Association) Sold Secure emphasise the importance of using good quality after-market vehicle security products. Sold Secure examine and test security devices for a wide range of vehicle applications – from cars, motorcycles, caravans and pedal cycles to security posts and ground anchors. These tests use tools and methods actually employed by thieves. The advice is only to purchase security products that have been professionally tested to withstand attack and are clearly labelled as such. Price is not always a good indicator. |
Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and trailers
18. The Home Office published HGV Security Guidance last year setting out minimum levels of perimeter security, immobilisation, protection for accessories and general equipment, the use of 17 digit VIN and marking major components, and a secure replacement key policy.
19. In relation to trailers, the Action Team has developed a Code of Practice, which a number of leading trailer manufacturers have voluntarily accepted, to adopt the 17 digit VIN and to stamp trailers in a prescribed manner. Manufacturers have also been asked to covertly mark major component parts. The Action Team recommend that all trailers exceeding an unladen weight of 1020 kgs should be recognised as vehicles in their own right, requiring the allocation of a VIN. As with plant, the benefits will only be fully realised with a comprehensive registration system and the Action Team is developing proposals as to how this can be achieved.
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Last update: 22 October 2001