Thefts of LGV's 2004

Aim & Intention

The aim of this page is to provide an insight into the nature and extent of thefts of large goods vehicles (LGVs) in the UK during 2004, using data extracted from the Police National Computer (PNC). The intention is to provide geographical 'hot-spotting' and an accurate assessment of vehicle vulnerability by make, model, age and type. Information on recovery rates of stolen LGVs is also provided.

Methodology

The DVLA vehicle file database, extracts of which form part of PNC, is extremely difficult to interrogate to ascertain the extent of thefts of large goods vehicles because of the way large goods vehicles are registered. To further complicate matters, trailers are, of course, unregistered in the UK .

The Vehicle On-Line Descriptive Search (VODS) facility allows police to search the PNC database on a number of descriptive parameters such as colour, body type and engine size. It is the last of these parameters that provides the data for this report. TruckPol conducts daily VODS searches on all vehicles reported stolen (or more correctly Lost or Stolen (LOS)) which have an engine size over 5000cc. Although this search returns a number of other vehicles with large capacity engines, these can be weeded out easily. Vehicles for which no engine size is shown are also included in returns.

The VODS database is not a live database; it is a daily extract, or 'snapshot' of PNC, which is separate from the live system. It is possible that vehicles which are stolen and recovered before being reported to police and those reported but recovered within 24 hours, could have a 'lost' report and 'found' report cleared from PNC. They would not be included in returns.

VODS searches reveal that 2,236 LGVs were reported stolen in 2004. This equates to an average of approximately 186 per month or 6 each day. There was a notable decline in thefts after the first quarter, although a similar level of decline in load thefts was not evident.

LGV Theft Trends

Of those vehicles reported stolen, 1133 (51%) are shown as being recovered. 15% of stolen vehicles are recovered within the first 24 hours. Intelligence suggests that vehicles that are not recovered are generally dismantled for their component parts, (particularly crane arms, hydraulic rams and other vehicle mounted equipment) which are then sold within the UK or exported abroad. Evidence gathered by police indicates that some vehicles in the possession of criminals are being used with cloned or fictitious identities.

The Metropolitan Police Area has the highest rate (11%) of thefts of LGVs in the UK, followed by West Midlands (9%), West Yorkshire (6%). All other forces had levels below 100, which equates to less than 4.5%. Figure 2 below shows crime incidence by police force area. Police forces with less than 50 LGV thefts are not included.

Iveco Ford is the most stolen LGV by manufacturer type. Caution should be exercised before drawing any conclusions from the data. It has not been adjusted for vehicle parc - the latest available being for 2003 - and therefore takes no account of respective vehicle market place proportionality. Nor does it take into account the security systems, or lack of them, in place in the operations of the end-user.

It would be incorrect to draw the conclusion that one manufacture has less secure vehicles and is more vulnerable to criminality than any other.

Manufacturers that may have vehicles registered by DVLA in different names e.g. Leyland DAF and DAF are included together. Manufacturers with less than 10 thefts are not included.

Vehicles registered in 1995 are the most frequently stolen and those registered between 1995 - 1998 form 37% of thefts overall. As would be expected, improved vehicle security on newer vehicles has caused a drop in the theft rates. Older vehicles also service the demand for the second hand parts market.

Conclusion

The theft of large goods vehicles is an ongoing concern to police and industry alike. Although numerically small by comparison to other vehicle categories, individual vehicle values and consequential losses are far from insignificant. There are also considerable security implications that cannot be overlooked, as previous experience in the UK and abroad shows us that vehicle-borne explosives (truck bombs) have been and although there is no specific intelligence, they almost certainly will continue to be a favoured method used by terrorists.

When compared with the load theft data, there is evidence to suggest that different criminals are involved in vehicle thefts for the vehicle, rather than thefts for the load, where the vehicle is subsequently abandoned.

Seven of the 'top ten' Police Force areas from the vehicle theft data are the same as those for load thefts, suggesting a higher concentration of criminality within those areas. Not surprisingly these seven force areas cover the road networks of M2/M20, M25, M1/A1, M6 and M4.

Goods vehicle thefts remain a relatively low risk criminal enterprise, with the opportunity for substantial financial rewards. The level of organisation is believed to be high, with vehicles often stolen to order and completely dismantled within hours of the theft and before the vehicle is known to have been stolen.

TruckPol requests the vehicle value for each theft notification that is received. This is supplied on less than 50% of stolen vehicles. Therefore, there is no accurate financial information that can be included in this report.

Despite a very large number of trailers being reported as stolen on the Police National Computer - in excess of 29,000 as at November 2004 - TruckPol are unable to give any accurate data or analysis in relation to goods vehicle trailer thefts in the UK. It is not possible to use the VODS search facility to analyse the stolen trailer sector. A request has been made to the industry and major trailer leasing companies to notify TruckPol of trailer thefts reports in order to assess the level of crime.

Police response has been effective - Operation Mammoth (South Yorkshire) managed to reduce both the local and national threat. Other higher profile police operations such as Operation Indicate (West Midlands) and directed patrols along the road networks listed above, whilst maybe targeting criminals involved in load thefts, have no doubt led to increased levels of prevention.

Security at operating centres remains an issue, particularly with smaller companies who suffer the most and for whom the consequence of the theft of a single vehicle or trailer is often the most dramatic. A high percentage of vehicles stolen during 2004 were from the company premises and many were stolen over a weekend period. Ignition keys being left in vehicles account for approximately half of all vehicles stolen.

As with load thefts, there is much room for improvement, both within the industry to prevent losses and by the police to detect and catch those responsible, particularly cross-border criminals.