CALL THE COPS
Page 16
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"My truck's been stolen and the police aren't doing anything about it..." we hear the same complaint on our Crimeline desk most Monday mornings from the latest victims of truck theft.
But the successful Metropolitan Police swoop on a London breaker's yard last week (see news story, page 2) is testimony to the fact that the police work long and hard on catching truck thieves: they just can't tell the world at large about it while they're still investigating. In this case a fivemonth investigation, dubbed Operation Sallow, led to the arrest of eight people in London and four in Nottingham. Victims of truck theft are bound to feel frustration when police investigations draw a blank, but before they point the finger they should look a little closer to home. The haulage industry is hardly squeaky clean, as CM discovered recently.
Police in the North are investigating hauliers who are thought to be at the centre of truck thefts worth millions of pounds. Six people, including managers from haulage firms in South Humberside and Scunthorpe, have been charged for conspiracy involving the alleged theft of HGVs; police investigations led as far afield as Jamaica (CM 29 July). It is sickening to think that a few bad apples could rot the reputation of the rest of the industry. Commercial Motor understands the damage and disruption to business that the theft of a vehicle causes a small haulier; our Crimeline page, a free service for readers who need to report stolen vehicles, is over-subscribed every week. But if we want to stop this insidious crime then we have to get our house in order, make sure we are blameless and start co-operating with the police instead of criticising them. Last week Kent police announced a phone line on which hauliers could ring in with information regarding truck theft. Now Cambridgeshire police plan to ask hauliers to pick up their mobiles and ring in if they see anything suspicious. The fact that the police feel the need to announce these moves suggests a sad lack of communication and trust between themselves and hauliers. But at least now the barriers are down and the lines are open. lithe haulage industry wants action on truck theft it has to get into gear and start supplying the police with the information they need to successfully convict the criminals.
It's time to stop moaning about lack of police response to truck theft and do something to help ourselves. The cost of a phone call might stop your truck being next on the thieves' hit list.