On December 22, a rare 1974 bronze classic left hand drive Mk3 Ford Cortina was stolen in the Lewisham area of London, writes Ken German.
The owner, Myles Pereira one of 15,000 members that belong to a niche social media website contacted the police and posted his loss on the ‘Stolen OldSkool Fords’, a website dedicated to those who had become victims of theft (mainly classic Ford cars). Both the support and response from other followers of the group was immediate and just 15 hours later the owner was overjoyed to read that a fellow enthusiast had spotted it in Coulsdon in Surrey some 16 miles away. Even more remarkable was that the car had been hidden under a car cover. Its shape didn’t fool the finder however and the car’s unusual 6×13 Capri Laser alloy wheels confirmed to the enthusiast it was the stolen car.
The police were informed and the Cortina was recovered albeit the ignition system had been broken and the gearbox had jammed during the thieves’ attempt at moving it. The owner was nevertheless overjoyed to get it back in almost one piece.
A few days earlier when a driver on the M6 motorway in Staffordshire noticed a car being driven erratically; he suspected drink or drugs as the reason and contacted the police using a social media link. The information was quickly passed to a police car from the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) and the car and driver were stopped. Surprisingly the driver was found not to be drunk but on checking his details he was found be one of Interpol’s ‘Most Wanted’ thieves responsible for a recent 43 million euros fraud in Europe.
Further south, another driver became suspicious of an unusual light in a field alongside the A4010 in Wycombe. He reported the details to Thames Valley Police who attended the scene and found several men actively loading a recently stolen Range Rover into a shipping container, ready to be sent to a port and exported. These were just three of the 3,000 active and successful social media engagements received by the police from the public and part of the estimated 50,000 police-public liaisons made via the internet related to crime this year.
The police acknowledge this link with the public is now a successful and important way to receive and gather intelligence, share photographs or videos; so much so that they describe it as a potential crime solving game changer.
At the end of this year the UK police Road Policing Units (RPU’s) will have spent a great deal of time dealing with over 16 million speeding offences, three million drivers who failed to conform to a variety of road requirements (including failing to supply driver information), 2.6 million who were disqualified or uninsured (including those giving false insurance information, fraud and forgery), 1.6 million who were found to be either unfit to drive through alcohol or drugs or guilty of dangerous or careless driving and another 40,000 who fail to stop after an accident.
This is alongside the 650,000 vehicles that were found to have contravened one or more of the requirements mentioned in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. This is indeed a huge list of rules and regulations that in essence covers the design and construction of almost everything we drive on the road and ensure they were made correctly, maintained to a high standard and are roadworthy. The police will also be keenly looking out for any of the 48,000 stolen cars, vans and motorcycles that are still unrecovered from last year’s total of 89,500 that were reported stolen.
Most helpful to the police in tracing these stolen cars will be their ‘in car’ Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPR) which are directly linked to the Police National Computer (PNC) that also contains tens of thousands of other registration numbers with warnings, cautions and advice attached to them to assist the officers. Also on board is equipment that warns officers that a tracking device from a stolen car nearby to them has been activated. It’s these plus that good old copper’s instinct and now more than ever the heavily monitored social media links with the public that can help officers track and trace stolen vehicles.
Most forces today have their own websites offering interactive links that welcome information being passed. Indeed West Midlands Police have 495,306 Facebook followers, Police Scotland 358,158, Greater Manchester Police have 357,316 and the Metropolitan Police 341,496 followers all of who have successfully seen the benefit of this new social media intercourse. All UK forces also use and monitor LinkedIn and the various micro blogging sites such as Twitter, Instagram and YouTube which are useful for photograph or video sharing. An estimated 80,000 officers also have public profiles on these networks.
A recent survey by the UK branch of International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) on the types of information passed on these motoring related websites indicated that many such users were making contact this way for the first time about a crime or an incident they felt strongly about reporting. These included young people, those in fear of reprisals or others who simply wished to remain anonymous. Common practice was the use of ‘handles’; that is, names which were not their own, to hide their real identities.
Members who had contacted police several times before usually about witnessing, or having knowledge of a crime were pleased with their response and continued to offer information on suspect ‘chop shop’ type garages or cars and motorcycles they had found abandoned. A portion of these contributors appeared to belong to groups that were dedicated to this type of activity and usually with others ran their own niche Facebook sites.
The survey showed that while normal complaints suggested the police were sometimes not forthcoming with information about the status of suspect vehicles or they had refused to attend the scene to move for instance a vehicle in a dangerous position, or to prevent further theft occurring, this new liaison via social media seemed to work well with good advice both given and accepted.
The need is for caution if the vehicle is still with the offenders. This concern particularly affected motorcyclists, who agreed that while motorcycle covers seemed to be reasonably effective against thieves, it was thieves that also used the covers to hide stolen machines. The police advised lifting of a cover to check a number plate could be volatile and local police should be informed for both safety and security reasons.
Some theft victims circulating their own vehicles as stolen on multiple sites suggested they had received thousands of ‘shares’ from all around the UK and also from abroad, clearly a place that many victims believed rightly or wrongly that their vehicles had ended up.
An increase in victims offering rewards for the return of or information regarding their vehicles whereabouts was seen; albeit some were quite absurd, creating an element of suspicion particularly to the equally interested insurance company investigators who also now monitor these sites. Victims who watched their own vehicles being stolen on CCTV all mentioned the ease and speed in which the vehicle’s security was overcome – the vehicle taken often in less than 30 seconds from the arrival of the thieves.
Whilst the worth of fitting a tracking device often developed into a Marmite debate, those that went with proven companies declared they were well worth having as their cars and motorcycles had been found or traced within a short time, some within hours of theft, with minimum damage incurred. Others described their purchases as being not fit for purpose. In general it was agreed their effectiveness was dependent on the their stated effectiveness and cost.
Overall whilst violent thefts did not seem as prevalent as last year, the few that were experienced or publicised in the media were in the extreme. One ruthless gang’s particular methods however did see them arrested and charged on their own unique ferocity used in several similar robberies.
An increase in the use of technology used by thieves was noticed particularly hand-made tracking devices to home in on vehicles to be stolen, and spy cameras to check; both found by potential theft victims.
Many replies to postings made by theft victims were answered with useful information on other crimes. Clearly this was seen to be an opportunity for informants to use a relevant posting as a platform for giving information that would be seen and acted on by police monitoring the site.
Social media is now accepted by the police as an excellent opportunity to establish a two-way dialogue with the public rather than simply just providing them with information. They see it as a consent-based policing system crucial in building public trust and confidence that enables them to engage better and to build relationships, as well as to gather information and intelligence. The College of Policing suggests it’s important that police have an online presence; as important as traditional policing methods such as walking the beat.
That said this liaison is under scrutiny for abuse and misuse and it won’t be until the police can define their new rules of engagement that assistance from police officers may not be as forthcoming as it has been. Thankfully that does not affect their official social media interaction with the public that exists and will, we are assured, continue to help those who are trying to help them in the recovery of stolen vehicles.
