Anti-theft group is finished by apathy
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Communication is a key factor in the fight against truck crime, but
it's not happening. Guy Sheppard and Jennifer Ball report.
THE FIGHT AGAINST truck crime has suffered another setback with the suspension of a pioneering initiative between police and the private sector. The Supply Chain Security Group (SCSG) was set up two years ago in Felixstowe to combat the highest levels of container theft in the country. Since then more than
70 haulage yards around the town have been visited by crime prevention officers who have offered advice on improving security. But Detective Inspector Stuart Hudson of Suffolk Police has suspended further meetings after only four SCSG members turned up to one meeting: "To make something viable, you need the
drive and support of everyone. My feeling is that perhaps it has come to the end of its useful life."
But he hopes the group will be reformed: "From a police point of view there has been phenomenal input into the survey and we won't let that just disappear."
Tony Allen, chairman of the Road Haulage Association security committee, wants a TruckWatch scheme to be revived in Suffolk if the group folds. "I'd like to see some of the best things from the supply group used in TruckWatch which was set up in Suffolk in the 1970s," he says. Another anti-truck crime initiative has also experienced difficulties in the past six months. In March Allen warned that TruckPol, which was formerly known as the National Stolen Lorry Load Desk, had suffered a sharp decline
in intelligence received from police forces around the country (CM 4 March). The appointment of a business development manager for TruckPol was scrapped because of a disagreement between the Metropolitan Police and the RHA (CM 18 September, 2003).
However, better news comes from a joint RHATTA and TruckPol initiative to allow operators to receive e-mail alerts of stolen trucks. This is an expansion of the pilot TruckWatch scheme, in which operators report stolen trucks and details are circulated to other members.
They can now post and view stolen vehicle reports on its website and receive e-mail notification of every one that is reported missing. It is currently only operational in six police forces but the organisers plan to take it nationwide. • www.truckwatch.coadc