R.H.A. Reward for Theft Informers
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AREWARD will be paid by the Road Haulage Association for information leading to a conviction for theft or attempted theft of a lorry owned by a member, or its load. This announcement was made on Monday by Mr. A. E. Drain, chairman of the Metropolitan and SouthEastern Area of the Association, at their annual dinner in London. He said the scheme had been introduced on the suggestion of the vehicles security committee.
The idea of the reward was to encourage people who might hesitate to interfere if they saw a crime about to be committed. Anything they told the police would he treated as confidential.
Mr. Drain acknowledged the great help given by the police in the matter of security. The number of thefts from vehicles owned by members who had taken security precautions was decreasing. Thieves were learning to leave those vehicles alone.
"We have a long way to go to beat the hi-jackers, but we are making some impression," Mr. Drain added.
c8 Sir Joseph Simpson, Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, said Mr. Drain might have had access to later figures, but the statistics for 1958 and 1959 showed an increase in thefts. In the Metropolitan area they rose from about 3,700 to some 4,000. The value of property lost increased from £430,000 to £560,000.
He wished that land could be found on which lorries could be safely parked at night. The police had, he said, been notifying operators of vehicles with valuable loads which were left unattended in exposed places, but the trade unions had objected.
A spokesman of the Association told The Commercial Motor afterwards that the amount of the reward would depend upon circumstances. Drivers would be told of the scheme by notices in their pay packets,
Progress was also being made, he said, with a competition for anti-theft devices. A specification for the ideal appliance was being drawn up. Vehicle manufacturers were showing keen interest.