It is widely recognised that global vehicle theft has been falling over the past decade. However, in the past two years this trend has slowed considerably with car theft even beginning to increase in some countries. Those which are still showing decline have acknowledged that car theft could be set for a rise in the near future, particularly with an increase in the activity of Organised Crime Groups.

Some countries are actively looking to improve the level of security on their country’s vehicles, for example:

• Netherlands - insurers are about to update their security approval criteria
• Russia - where criteria for security approval has just been introduced for the first time
• Malaysia - where immobilisation has just been mandated
• Australia - where there are a range of strategic plans implemented every year

In contrast, the UK government has dramatically cut back on the investigation of vehicle theft. The Home Office has just announced that it will no longer provide funding to the Association of Chief Police Officers Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS). Although reported to have been disbanded by some media, SBD has confirmed that AVCIS will still continue but with significantly less resource.

Losing such expertise in the area of vehicle crime is a concern, both for the present and for the future.

The immediate impact is that there is less capability to investigate vehicle theft leading to more unsolved crime and less recovered vehicles. The greatest impact however, comes in the future once the predicted vehicle theft rises begin. Not only will police find it difficult to track vehicle theft and apprehend thieves with fewer available and trained officers, but much of the expertise needed to tackle vehicle theft will have been lost in the intervening years. The continual rise in sophisticated, electronic theft methods will mean that thieves are much more advanced in their knowledge than the police investigation teams trying to stop them.

Aside from the authorities, some manufacturers are also choosing to cut down on theft protection, for example in the USA where many manufacturers have chosen to remove steering locks following a change in legislation. SBD has covered the implications of this strategy recently, where thieves have started to conduct “push and steal” thefts, particularly of the Cadillac Escalade which no longer has a steering lock as a security feature.

These decisions to reduce the power to investigate vehicle theft or to reduce security feature fitment are based on the current published theft statistics. But SBD believe that cutting back on security features and criminal investigation expertise just before an expected rise in vehicle theft could prove costly when the time comes to take on thieves.

For more information or to discuss global vehicle theft methods and trends, please email security@sbd.co.uk