1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204 
WHO PAYS TO BEAT TRUCK CRIME?
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A flurry of mixed information has emerged from West Midlands police this week about the future of its Operation Indicate truck crime unit. At its heart is a funding crisis, with annual management and staffing costing some £200,000. Superintendent Andy Bebbington allegedly told a meeting of haulage and business leaders that they would have to pay up if they wanted a specific unit to keep investigating truck crime.
Bebbington has since said he wants to keep it running and would prefer other streams of funding, but the discussion raises all kinds of points.
Firstly, this kind of specialist policing works. When Indicate's predecessor Operation Coppergold collapsed, truck crime in the area hit an all-time high. Indicate has clawed back £500,000 worth of goods from thieves but its value as a deterrent goes well beyond its headline value. The criminals who rip off trucks are not teenage muggers or occasional felons — this is as much the heartland of organised crime as drug smuggling or armed robbery. We simply cannot afford to let these gangs grow in strength and profit.
Secondly, it is absurd to suggest that operators themselves should have to pay for such an essential policing service. By this logic the overweight and smokers should be charged for hospital treatment and the elderly should pay for community liaison officers The fact is we already pay. We pay taxes. We protect our goods and our vehicles with insurance, on top of business rates and council taxes, We pay. And we pay. And we pay some more. And then inevitably we pay the sickening shortfall in money and peace of mind, and our drivers in health and confidence, if we are the victims of crime And as consumers we pay higher prices for every theft.
are not teenage muggets or occasional felons"
We have a national government to handle national problems and, however regionally divided the police, truck crime must be seen as a national epidemic in the same way as violent crime. An Operation Indicate should be nationally funded for every region and every penny would be money well spent