Police target owners rather than thieves in car crime battle
A NEW tactic in the war on thieves appears to be paying off.
After a big rise in the number of thefts from vehicles, police in Mutley and Greenbank have started targeting the owners rather than the criminals.
-
PCSOs Kirsty Down and Paul Stuart in Addison Road off North Hill which is one of the worst areas for people leaving things on display in their vehicles
Since the middle of November they have been writing directly to people who leave their property on view in their vehicles.
PCSO Kirsty Down said a jump in the number of thefts from motor vehicles prompted the new tactic.
From Monday to Friday,
Come and enjoy our special menu at £12 per person for 3 course-meal.
Terms:
Not in conjunction with any other offers.
From Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner.
Subject to availability.
Contact: 01752 424381
Valid until: Wednesday, July 31 2013
Since the start of this year there have been 149 recorded break-ins to vehicles in Mutley and Greenbank, compared with 104 in 2011. Items stolen include laptops and Satnavs, stereos, CDs, bags and clothing.
Nothing on view is safe: in one break-in the thief escaped with just 15p.
Operation Broadleaf, the latest idea, started on November 21.
Since then there have been no vehicle break-ins in Greenbank and just five in Mutley. More than 13 would have been expected based on the year's figures.
PCSOs in Mutley and Greenbank have been going from street to street checking for cars whose owners have left their property on display.
When they find one, they write directly to the owner pointing out the risk.
"We warn them that they are parking in an area of high crime, and tell them about Operation Broadleaf," PCSO Down said.
In a month they have written 137 letters about items ranging from Satnavs to sports bags.
"One vehicle had a Satnav attached to the window. It was switched on and the door was unlocked," PCSO Down said.
"Mobile phones and iPhones are common, and we have seen handbags on front seats and golf bags on view."
She said many of the vehicles were owned by students, so the thefts tail off in the summer when they are away.
Addison Road in Greenbank appears to have the most careless drivers. The PCSOs found 20 vehicles with property on show in a street not much more than 400ft long.
One owner was apparently unmoved by the personal attention: he or she has already had two letters.
"It's hard to say which is the most risky area. I wouldn't say one road is more likely to be targeted than another," PCSO Down said. "We have had so many break-ins all over our patch.
"We advise people to try to park in well lit, overlooked areas, or well used streets, if they can.
"If you are going to park in a back lane, then we advise you to take everything out of your car."
Before the personal letters, the police tried using general mailshots, the police website, Twitter and Facebook with no apparent success.
"Now Operation Broadleaf targets owners directly so we hope our letters are not thrown away as junk mail."
The success of the operation is set to spread to other parts of the city. It is being taken up by PCSO Paul Stewart in Stonehouse.
Comments
by GAWker
Friday, February 01 2013, 9:25PM
“I take it PCSO Paul Stuart in the photo is the same PCSO Paul Stewart mentioned at the bottom of the article?”
by jabbathebutt
Friday, December 28 2012, 9:01PM
“Why dont they just jail the innocent victims for allowing crime to happen ? There must be plenty of spaces left in prison as they dont seem to jail serious criminals these days .”
by newjanner
Friday, December 28 2012, 8:54PM
“So instead of catching thugs and criminals the police are spending time looking in car windows and hoping it rains. Great”
by MmBeer
Friday, December 28 2012, 8:49PM
“This is starting to happen in Stoke now too, in my street 3 cars have been broken into this week alone. Though I have to agree that people need to take items of value out of their cars more needs to be done to catch the criminals i.e. a car bugged with hidden cameras in a hostspot (£300 old banger, £100 of equipment and an hour or two to fit).
One women on our road had her care broken into just for a baby bottle warmer worth £10 at the cost of £75 to replace the window.”
by JETHROQUEUE
Friday, December 28 2012, 8:47PM
“The sooner it is made an offence to 'unlawfully leave property on display in an unnattended vehicle' the better, perhaps punishable with a £60 fixed penalty ticket it might become a nice little earner as well and be the means to encourage owners not to put temptation in the way of would be thieves.”
by olddogbreath
Friday, December 28 2012, 3:14PM
“To answer Alpha1 question, yes you can buy quite a lot for 15p as they are advertising £10 holidays on here. Just need 67 cars lying around with 15p in and you have a holiday!”
by shamomf01
Friday, December 28 2012, 2:02PM
“for 10p you could buy a chocolate chump bar and still have 5p for a chew, the Ronnie Biggs pleb must of been rubbing his hands when he found all that stash, he must of had the IQ of a slug.”
by Mutleyresi4
Friday, December 28 2012, 1:44PM
“Hearald - part of their job is to prevent crime and bring crime down? Wouldn't you rather them do something to try and prevent it rather than them just stand by and wait for it to happen??”
by Hearald
Friday, December 28 2012, 12:34PM
“if people want to leave things on show let them, don't waste police time and money on informing them, if everybody hid their belongings the thief's would start breaking in to all cars to find stuff”
by Mutleyresi4
Friday, December 28 2012, 12:31PM
“It wouldn't suprise me if a druggie could put 15p towards their habit. We had PCSO's knocking on our door in Mutley about this as there was a car outside with a satnav and mobile phone in a holder left in the vehicle so I know this happens, turned out the owners 'forgot' it was in there. It's nice to see our police trying to take action about it, shame people won't take a little more responsibility and help them selves.”