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Frock crime blitz leads 10 16 arrests
Page 10
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by Guy Sheppard dice arrested 26 people and recovered up to 200,000 worth of stolen property during a dayng blitz on truck crime in the West Midlands. Automatic number plate recognition softare was used to identify suspect trucks which ere then stopped at 16 roadside checkpoints :pass the region.
Five of the arrests were for theft, four for lying while disqualified and 11 for having no iad tax.
Mike Farmer, regional director of the Road aulage Association, says the initiative shows .uck crime is now being given a much higher lortty. "The beauty of this system is that If you re a clean operator, you should not get pulled. It the targeting element we like." West Midlands Police have focused on truck crime for the last five years through Operation Coppergold. Two months ago, a 12-strong dedicated team of officers was created to deal with the problem following a meeting with the RHA and other industry representatives.
Detective chief inspector Tim Godwin, who led last week's roadside blitz, says: "Rather than Just say we will circulate the details when someone says their lorry has been stolen we now Interview the drivers, asking things like why they think they were targeted and whether they were followed. It helps get underneath the skin of the problem.
"In the past, because of the perceived ambivalence of police, employers and drivers have been loath to pick up the phone because they didn't think we would In anything."
The roadside checkpoints, which are linked to computer records of vehicles that have been stolen, used In crime or have no road tax, were mainly focused on the Black Country.
Godwin says: "There are a lot of opportunities for criminals there because of the number of cash-and-carries, warehouses and distribution centres." He urges anyone with information about truck crime to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Among the items recovered during the blitz were an engine and gearbox from a stolen Scanla and a cab from a stolen MAN.
One of the checks also uncovered a large quantity of lorry door parts, engines, chassis, tyres and wheels.