Theft: Kent out to help
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Nicky Clarke • Kent Police have pledged to help hauliers in the county combat truck theft with a proposal to draw up a code of practice on how to deal with the problem.
The police have appealed to hauliers to ring in with information if they are suspicious about any vehicle they see on the road.
At a meeting last week to establish how hauliers and police can work more closely together, police promised the code of practice after hearing hauliers' complaints over lack of police response to truck theft.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Blackburn also asked that any inadequacies of police response should be reported to him personally: "I feel immensely uncomfortable with what I've heard this evening," he said. "One way forward is to agree a code of practice for us and hauliers."
Blackburn also promised to write to each of Kent's 13 areas about the hauliers' concerns, stressing that truck theft is a "serious crime and that it requires an immediate response". He is also going to liaise with police based in ports "to heighten their awareness" Five Kent hauliers who have suffered truck thefts heard officers from crime prevention, criminal intelligence, motor vehicle investigation and the Metropolitan's stolen vehicle squad talk of the extent of truck theft and the problems police encounter when dealing with it.
A "huge" number of stolen vehicles go to Eastern Europe, police revealed. In the five months to May this year Kent Police recorded 127 stolen LGVs, of which 27 were recovered. During the corresponding period last year 110 trucks were stolen, of which 52 were recovered.
DC Kelvin Wootton of Kent's Criminal Intelligence Bureau attributes the fall in detection rate to the more organised nature of truck theft with vehicles being stolen to order.
Most of the hauliers agreed that truck theft should be investigated by a specialist unit rather than the local constabulary by Juliet Parish • A charter to help hauliers and drivers fight back against the epidemic of truck hijackings is being compiled by the Transport & General Workers Union Southampton office. The code of practice should be available by the end of the year. It will cover the danger signs for drivers and will offer advice on counselling and legal aid.
Advice to drivers after an assault is particularly important because their ordeal continues after the hijack, says TGWU officer Jennie Sandie.
More hauliers are taking measures to protect their drivers from the risks of carrying high-value loads. One, who lost a £350,000 load of computer games in June, has refused to carry for manufacturer Nintendo without an escort, despite the risk of losing an annual £60,000 worth of business.
Another, Southampton-based Pitter Brothers, asks its 30 drivers to phone from their cab immediately if they are flagged down by the public or police. • IF you have any anti-theft ideas which could be incorporated into the TGWU guide contact Jennie Sandie, TGWU, 67-75 London Road, Southampton, Hampshire 509 5HH.