A new vehicle crime campaign has been launched by West Midlands Police urging motorists to “check your fob has done its job”.
The crime prevention push comes as latest figures estimate more than 5,000 vehicles in the region were stolen or broken into last year as a result of owners leaving them unsecured.
CCTV released by the force shows an opportunist thief profiting from slack car security as he tries a door handle on a residential street.
Unfortunately, there are many crooks who strike lucky as it’s believed around a quarter of all vehicle crime in the West Midlands is due to doors being left unlocked or windows open.
Lap-tops, sat navs, handbags, coats, sunglasses, phone chargers – even chewing gum and loose change – have all been swiped in recent weeks by thieves who’ve been offered the chance to help themselves.
Most offences occur from driveways or roadsides overnight but some chancers have struck in broad daylight whilst drivers have pulled over to nip into shops or visit ATMs.
The campaign will see warning messages printed on the back of more than half a million car-park tickets urging motorists ensure their “fob has done its job” and be supported by a social media and radio ad promotion.
Motorway catering firm Welcome Break are supporting the initiative by displaying campaign posters at Corley Services on the M6 and the M42 at Hopwood Services, whilst mobile billboard trailers will be placed at ‘hot-spot’ locations like retail parks.
West Midlands Police lead on vehicle crime, Superintendent Andy Beard, said: “All too often we get reports of belongings being taken from vehicles left open…people forget to lock them, mistakenly assume its locked, or know it’s unsecured and think ‘it’ll be alright’.
“In the last few weeks we’ve had people lose briefcases with important work documents, tradesmen who’ve returned to find valuable tools gone from their van, and others who’ve found that just a handful of loose change was enough to tempt an opportunist thief.
“We’re looking at thousands of crimes that could be prevented simply by taking the most basic of security measures – and also removing any temptation, like bags, sat navs or jackets, from seats or leaving them locked out of sight in the boot.”
Crime prevention messages will be printed on 585,000 tickets over the next few weeks in pay-and-display car-parks in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Walsall.
A total of 21,987 vehicles were either stolen or broken into between April 2013 and March 2014 – down by almost two-thirds in the last decade with almost 60,000 recorded vehicle crimes over the same period in 2002-03.
And Supt Beard is confident the campaign will help drive that figure down even further.
Supt Beard, added: “Locking your car and removing valuable items takes just seconds…the same length of time it takes for a thief to try a door handle to see if their luck’s in. Even if it’s parked on a driveway it should be locked: opportunists are brazen and, in the cover of night, will happily check vehicles parked on driveways.
“Another important consideration is that, if a vehicle is stolen as a result of being left unsecured, there’s a risk the insurance company may not pay out if it’s proven the owner was negligent.”
For more information on vehicle security advice go to: www.west-midlands.police.uk/fob.
http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/latest-news/news.aspx?id=1723
