Cops and Robbers
Page 64
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HOW seriously hauliers regard the increase in !hefts from lorries is shown by the transmission to the chairman's committee of the Road Haulage Association of a proposal to consider ways and means of dealing with the problem. The initial impetus has come from the express carriers, who seem to be more affected than anyone else by the latest crime wave. Their vehicles may have to be left unattended, even if only for short periods, several times during the course of a round. The consignments are usually small and often valuable, so that a temptation is ever-present both to the sneak thief and to the hi-jacker. Other operators from all parts of the country have supported the proposal. Although the main difficulties arise in and around London, the effects and the concern at those effects are nation-wide.
The inclination when this sort of thing happens is to take the law into one's own hands. Some hauliers argue that, if the authorities are not coping adequately with the problem, the victims should make their own arrangements. This do-it-yourself attitude does not necessarily lead to the best solution. One suggestion in particular—the appointment of a private flying squad—should not be accepted without careful thought. The idea of an independent police force for independent hauliers may make an effective slogan, but if put into practice would mean a good deal of wasted effort. In principle, the fight against crime is a national and not a sectional problem, and can be waged successfully only if it is a national operation.
The machinery of law and order ought not to be divided up in accordance with the sections of the community that are affected. Nationalization of the police force is accepted by all shades of opinion. In the same way, a nationalized or municipalized fire brigade is preferred to he old system under which each insurance company had its own private fire engines. It was the initiative of private individuals and of private organizations that was responsible for the formation of the first fire services and for some of the forerunners of the police force, but the ultimate decision by which the community took over was undoubtedly right.
Security Force
The exceptions help to establish the principle. The railway police, for example, are in a special category. Their territory and functions are sharply divided from those of the police in general. They cost British Railways about £2m. per annum. Presumably the expenditure is thought justified. It is not possible to say whether as much money would have to be spent on a special corps of road security officers. It so, it is unlikely that the money could be raised voluntarily, even if C-licence holders were prepared to co-operate with hauliers. With road transport the situation is not the same as on the railways, and the difference is made plain within the British Transport Commission. Although there are the much-publicized watchdogs that travel with the Carter Paterson vans, British Road Services do not have a security force comparable to that of British Railways.
Whatever success the road haulage flying squads might have would be out of proportion to the energy and money spent on them. It would shift the problem instead of sclving it, and the results would be only temporary. Because the main trouble at present is in London and in the approaches to it, the services of a special organization would be concentrated there at the outset. The probable result is that the thieves would try somewhere else. c24 It is hardly a satisfactory or permanent solution to get rid of vermin by driving them into the neighbour's house.
Provincial hauliers would soon be constrained to form their own force of vigilantes. By this time the expense would be considerable, but however great the pressure it would not solve the problem satisfactorily. Let us assume, however, that so great a concentration is built up of ex-police officers
and other experts on crime that the number of thefts begins to decline. This is still merely treating the symptoms for the disease. The thieves are not likely to become reformed characters just because they are thwarted in one department of their trade. They will turn their attention to some other branch of larceny. The relief brought to road operators would be at the expense of the rest of the community, and would not be permanent.
The committee who are to consider the problem of thefts from vehicles could reasonably maintain that this type of crime is the easiest to perpetrate. Apart from this it is no different in kind from other thefts, and is best regarded as a particularly bad example of a general deterioration.' Publication by the Government of a White Paper called Penal Practice in a Changing Society" is a reminder that the increase in crime in recent years is general. Transport operators may be particularly sensitive to it, just as they react quickly to other social and economic changes.
Right Equipment
Goods are at their most vulnerable when they are io transit. Even when special vehicles are built as refrigerators or strong-rooms they are seldom as good as the real thing. Most vehicles carrying goods that are at all liable to be stolen are constructed as strongly as is consistent with the need to keep down the weight, but a determined man can usually find an entry if he is given the opportunity. The greatest hazard is that the man with the right equipment, which does not have to be elaborate, can take the load and the vehicle, and separate the one from the other at hi leisure.
There are two main methods of tackling the problem. It can be made more difficult for a thief to get at a vehicle or a load, and his general environment can be made more discouraging. Locks may be picked or broken, but an obstacle is presented at the outset if, whenever a vehicle is left unattended, the doors are locked and the ignition key removed. There are devices on sale for immobilizing the engine still further, and there are ear-splitting warning systems that function whenever an unauthorized person attempts to open a vehicle door or pull up a roller shutter.
The task of providing an unfavourable environment for the thief is not one that hauliers and other road users can best tackle in isolation. They will have general support for any proposals designed to strengthen the police for their main purpose of dealing with crime. An inadequate force is further attenuated by duties that have tended to become more onerous. In some towns there are plans for the appointment of officers to control and supervise parked vehicles, thus leaving the police free for other work.
In considering what action is needed to deal with vehicle thefts, apart from what can be done by individual concerns, hauliers should go no further than to set out the extent of the problem and suggest what force is likely to be needed for coping with it. The next stage ought to be in the hands of the Home Office, who should be asked to say whether they agree with the assessment and whether they have the resources to meet it.