Car crime UP, not down?
July 27th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
ANALYSIS of official crime figures has led one car industry expert to question the Government’s statistics.
Carl Brandrick, MD of Nice 1 Ltd, has been looking at the just-published British Crime Survey figures, and comparing it to official Police Recorded Crime.
He’s discovered a big disparity – with big relevance to car dealers and owners!
BCS figures, he says, show there were 10.6 million crimes last year. Police data, however, puts this figure at 4.7 million.
Why the huge difference? Simple: Police data shows recorded crime only.
‘When you consider that only 65 percent of house burglaries are reported (and, thus, recorded) – and just 45 percent of car crime is reported, you can see how concerned I am.’
Indeed, the difference, he suggests, runs contrary to headlines claiming crime is going down.
And there’s even more to it than just that, says the replacement vehicle insurance company boss. A big car crime growth area is the theft of keys from houses. Which is reported by the Police as… house burglary…
… and thus NOT included in car crime stats.
Jacqui Smith later released the number of car key thefts in 2008. There were a hefty 18,600 of them.
‘When these numbers are factored into the car theft figures, it reverses the headline-grabbing -14 percent decrease in car theft, to -2 percent’ reveals Brandrick.
Looking at other factors too, it’s led him to state that ‘it is almost certain we are talking about a car crime increase, not a decrease.’
The findings come as Sir Trevor McDonald fronts a big six-part ITV1 series on car crime
Series producers say the series highlights the 170,000 cars stolen in the UK each year – with Police forces in Manchester dealing with a ‘huge increase in criminals who break into houses to steal keys’.
Within all of this are several areas car dealers should consider. After seeing the shows on TV, your customers may well be asking you how you can help tackle car crime… best to be prepared!
Worryingly, though, Brandrick also points out that car key theft by robbery doubled in 2008 – from 2 percent to 4 percent. Could this be the start of a violent trend? If so, your dealers’ personal safety and welfare should also be considered, particularly during test drives.
If Brandrick’s fears that the problem is worsening, too – well, be careful!
By Richard Aucock
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