Police to compile stolen parts lists
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• The Metropolitan Police's Commercial Vehicle unit is to produce a series of dossiers to help forces around the country to trace recovered stolen truck parts. A technical register is being compiled with the help of the major manufacturers, which should enable police to trace parts to the source vehicle. A first report on trailers has been produced while the unit is currently working on gearboxes. If the scheme is successful, the unit plans to report on other parts.
Roland Thomas, who is writing the reports, says the main problem the police have is linking stolen parts to the original stolen vehicle. "Quite often the parts will have just a serial number, making tracing very difficult," he says. "In the future police forces will be able to go to the manufacturers to find out where the part came from—this will not only help detection but should result in increased prosecutions."