Police remove valuables from unlocked cars

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

United Kingdom

Other stories from The United Kingdom

• 3 December 2009: Pakistani prime minister says Osama Bin Laden not in the country
• 3 December 2009: UK Government to look again at drink-drive limit
• 3 December 2009: UK's oldest museum reopened
• 3 December 2009: Iran releases five detained Britons
• 2 December 2009: British actress Maggie Jones dies age 75

...More articles here

Location of the United Kingdom

---

To write, edit, start or view other articles on the United Kingdom, see the United Kingdom Portal

Police officers in Richmond in south-west London, England are removing valuable items like handbags and laptops from unlocked vehicles and leaving notes telling owners to collect their items in Twickenham police station in a bid to try and encourage car drivers to lock the doors of their vehicles.

Two police officers patrolling the streets of Manchester.
Image: Terry.

There is a high number of in-car thefts or "smash and grab" attacks in the borough. Last year, 1,300 of these attacks were reported in the area. 220 of those cases involved satellite navigation systems or sat-navs. But the numbers of these thefts occurring have been rising recently. The figure has risen by 40% until July.

25 cars have been targeted so far but there has been only one car where an item has been removed with a note left for the owner to collect it. If there is nothing on display but the car is unlocked the owner will be sent a letter telling them to be more careful. These tactics should only be attempted by police officers if they cannot find the owner nearby.

The project has received the backing of Richmond Council. A council spokesman from Richmond-upon-Thames said: "We have issues with theft in the borough — particularly theft from cars. We see our borough as a green and pleasant place. Car owners therefore can be lulled into a false sense of security in that they leave items displayed prominently in unlocked cars."

Sources

• "Police 'steal' from unlocked cars". BBC News Online, August 25, 2009
• "Police 'steal' valuables from cars in a lesson for drivers". Daily Mail, August 25, 2009
• Peter Woodman "Lock your cars - or the police will pounce". The Independent, August 25, 2009
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.