Forum Topic

Is Car Crime Still Investigated?

It feels currently that car crime goes unpunished. More cars are stolen in London (~33k) than the rest of the UK combined. That is over 100 each and every day or one every 10-15 minutes. I suspect most are stolen in the early hours of the morning. Do we see police following vehicles with 2 or more individuals in the early hours to either catch them in the act or make it impossible for a crime of any sort to be committed. When doorbell videos record and timestamp the time of theft do the police track and follow the theft on the thousands of traffic and ulez cameras that cover London?In just over 10 years I’ve had - 1 vehicle stolen, - 2 broken into and thousands of pounds of content stolen, - 2 damaged by passing vehicles and - most recently a headlight stolen supposedly to grow drugs. The same night a neighbour with the same vehicle had a headlight also stolen. Between the two vehicles that was around £7k to replace and repair. This week a neighbour had the rear window of their vehicle smashed to see if there were valuables left overnight. After a house purchase a car is likely to next largest purchase most people make but it seems you dare not own a good car in LondonCrime in London seems out of control with the Police either under resourced or not sufficiently accountable. Our politicians need to focus on stamping out crime and then London may once again be a great city to live in.

Conor Sherrard ● 13d4 Comments

I'm not sure what point you are making here Barbara. I entirely agree car crime has been with us for a long time (probably ever since we have cars). It is also undoubtedly true that there is crime in London.However, despite what you think I do open my eyes and my experience and the experience of family and friends is that London is much safer than it was two or three decades ago. This experience is borne out by the data that we have - London's murder rate is at an all-time low.Relying on NextDoor to measure the level of crime is not the best approach. I, with difficulty, extricated myself from the app a couple of years ago after the umpteenth time someone replied to a post about emergency vehicles at a particularly location saying it was a stabbing. It was by talking to people in the real world that it transpired that it was an elderly person collapsing in the street or someone having a mental health episode.An article was published recently in The Spectator (not usually known for its snowflake views) which investigated the widespread 'London is falling' narrative that appears across social media. It emerged that this is a highly organised campaign with about 95% of the messages on these theme coming from complexes in Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Who is funding it is not known but it has to be a hostile foreign power. The concerning thing it is working. While Londoners, who get out of the house, still regard their city as safe, the rest of the UK buys into the idea that it is a crime-ridden hellhole and increasingly people from other countries are buying into this narrative. This is impacting the revenues of already struggling hospitality businesses in the capital.So I urge you, don't be a useful idiot for our enemies by propagating these falsehoods. Yes, if you parade around town with £10,000 watch or a £1,000 phone or don't properly secure your very expensive car or bike you are likely to be a victim of crime and yes online fraud is rising at an alarming rate (but that's not a London problem, it's a global one). True patriots defend their country's reputation when it is insulted from abroad.

Peter Higgins ● 2d

Peter, you really need to open your eyes, car crime has been going on years even when I worked at Peugeot, vehicles were taken abroad. They are being stolen taken down a side street or nearby then removed a few days later.  Parcel thieves are non stop, they must even follow the delivery vans. Think you need to join the Next Door Site you might find out what is really going on. What about the thieving in the local shops, as for stabbings that's all you hear of everyday. What about scamming and old people getting their money taken, also stupid phone calls from stupid people.

Barbara Stevens ● 8d

Crime in London isn't out of control. On any metric it compares well to other cities and violent crime and murder is down. Please stop talking down our wonderful city - many people's livelihood's depend on visitors coming both from the rest of the UK and overseas and they are being discouraged by nonsense (mainly spread by foreign accounts) on social media.We are seeing a rise at the moment nationally because funding for the police in real terms is down (particularly in London where rises in population have not been covered by extra resources) and income disparity has increased.I don't want to victim blame here but anyone who leaves thousands of pounds worth of stuff in the back of their car, does have a share of responsibility. If you sign up for MetEngage you'll get tips on how to reduce the chances of having your car stolen or damaged.As far as I am aware there are two types of car crime - opportunistic and to order. In the former criminals wander the streets at night looking for cars with valuables left inside. They have devices that can pick up a bluetooth signal from a laptop left on standby. It is important to note that they won't risk breaking into a car unless they think there is a strong possibility of finding something of value.The second is theft to order - either of the whole vehicle or items like wing mirrors, tyres, catalytic converters and headlights. A lot of this crime is committed by minors who are difficult to get off the streets and therefore even identifying the thieves does stop them offending. The police use their limited resources to identify the end buyers for the stolen items which is a sensible strategy but I can see how this can cause frustration for the victim who might feel not enough is being done in his particular case.

Peter Higgins ● 8d

'Crime in London seems out of control'. One hundred percent agreement from me on this one. Gangs roaming the streets at night on souped up electric bikes, no lights, balaclavas on, weaving in and out of traffic at high speed.....night after night with obviously no concern that they might be stopped, apprehended and bikes confiscated, at the very least!Car crime, shop lifting, drug dealing etc etc all, apparently, tolerated by the police. Maybe they are carrying out investigations and arrests in the background, and I do not want to give the impression I am blaming the police; but the perception is that the streets are safe hunting grounds for criminals and yobs.

Gerry Boyce ● 13d