Clive Holland puts the police on the spot about tool theft
Every 20 minutes a van is broken into and tools are taken. In the last year, UK tradespeople have spent over £4.4 billion replacing stolen tools
Tool theft has become such a commonplace occurrence that many tradespeople seem resigned to the idea that they are going to get ripped off.
With only 1% of stolen tools ever recovered, most tradespeople only contact the police to get a crime number to support their insurance claim, rather than with any realistic hope that the thief will be caught, or that they’ll see their tools again.
Although sympathetic to resourcing issues commonly cited by the police, the indifferent response to many incidents of tool theft has undermined the confidence in law enforcement
Clive Holland caught up with Jim Taylor, detective chief superintendent, head of Unit, OPAL to discuss how the police are attempting to tackle tool theft and restore confidence
Clive Holland: What resources are needed by the police to effectively combat the growing threat of tool and van theft?
Jim Taylor: What works really well in policing are dedicated teams that look at specific crime types. Going back ten or fifteen years ago there was a big increase in acquisitive crimes - things like vehicle crime.
Forces were held to account for those numbers, in terms of detections and volumes. We are probably going to be returning to that in the future. So forces are going to be put under a great deal of scrutiny around our detection rates and bringing crime down.
The government has a really aspirational plan to reduce crime by 20% and that is a big figure. The police have a big part to play, as well as a lot of other agencies.
We are certainly going up to our quota of Boris’ 20,000 [police recruits] increase in staffing, and the government quite rightly will want to see a return on that investment.
Holland: The lack of response is eroding confidence in the police - how can that confidence be rebuilt do you think?
Taylor: That is really disappointing, and without a doubt there is some more work we need to do in managing volume crime and acquisitive crime. There is absolutely no doubt about it.
I am really sorry to hear that some of your listeners will take that opinion.
All I can say on that matter is that we are working to try and address as many acquisitive crimes as we can.
You have seen recently that the government has committed officers to attend all dwelling burglaries, which is a really good step in the right direction.
What we need to be better at is crime recording
I totally understand the feeling of some of your listeners, but all I can say is that we are going to work really hard to re-address that confidence issue.
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Holland: Thieves need a marketplace to move these tools. Do you think legislation is needed to regulate the second-hand tool market?
Taylor: It is a really awkward one. When you start talking about regulation you need a governing body to make sure and enforce that regulation. I am not sure the police are the right body to do that.
The second-hand market is absolutely crucial to trade and industry because people starting out on a trade won’t be able to go and buy brand-new bits of kit.
They rely on that second-hand market and we don’t want to create an over-bureaucratic environment where people have to jump through hoops just to buy something very simple.
It is a very difficult one, but I understand the point you’re trying to make Clive.
We have legislation in place, so Handling of Stolen Goods under The Theft Act is a really strong piece of legislation. The maximum sentence for that is 14 years for handling stolen goods, so we have strong legislation to support us.
Holland: It seems that cases of tool and van theft are getting worse. We heard this week about Dan Jones, whose house was broken into and his family threatened for his van keys. How do we manage those responses?
Taylor: What we don’t want is a vigilante-style response to this by your listeners. The police are there to investigate and deal with the incidents, but of course, you must protect your family.
I would say that your life and the family’s lives and their well-being is far more important than any possession.
We have had some amazing success even in the last couple of weeks with tools being stolen in the Thames Valley area, where we have responded and recovered in the Metropolitan Police area.
We know there is an element of organised crime groups
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