Official statistics show an alarming surge in vehicle thefts, with 111,999 stolen last year as police numbers fell
The number of vehicles stolen in the UK has increased by almost half over the last five years, with experts blaming falling police numbers for the crime wave.
Home Office statistics show 75,308 vehicles were reported stolen to police in the 2013-14 financial year, a figure that increased to 111,999 in 2017-18. That represents a 48.7 per cent increase, while the latest figures equate to one vehicle being stolen every five minutes, or 300 per day, in the last full financial year.
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This surge in stolen vehicles in the UK s hard to directly attribute to specific factors, but correlates with two significant trends: the advent of keyless entry and go systems, and falling police officer numbers.
The Home Office’s crime figures don’t specify how the vehicles in question were stolen, but police officer numbers are at their lowest since the 1980s, with 21,958 officers lost since 2006 – a 15 per cent reduction.
Thefts from a vehicle have also increased recently, with 258,346 such incidents being recorded in 2016-17, a figure that increased by 8.4 per cent, to 280,032 in 2017-18.
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RAC insurance director Mark Godfrey called the latest figures “very alarming”, and said the surge in vehicle thefts paints a “depressing picture of a society where it is all too easy for gangs of thieves to break in and steal vehicles”.
Godfrey said it was “impossible to underestimate” the impact vehicle crime has on individuals and business, adding: “if the number of thefts could be reduced, then insurance premiums would undoubtedly be lower.
These official figures back up previous research by Auto Express, which revealed under half of all vehicles reported stolen were marked as recovered by police, an investigation that also uncovered inconsistent data-recording processes among various forces.
Exclusive: car thefts reach six-year high
More cars were stolen last year than at any point since 2011, with experts blaming falling police numbers and criminals circumventing vehicles’ security systems for the six-year high.
Exclusive figures uncovered by Auto Express show 43,308 cars were reported stolen to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in 2017. That’s the highest number since 2011, and almost 9,000 more than in 2016. Previous research indicated rates of theft were on the rise, but relied on national crime surveys, or comprised data that included all types of vehicle.
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Rising car crime has been linked to potential vulnerabilities in some security systems and falling police officer numbers, which are down by more than 20,000 since 2010.
RAC Insurance spokesman Simon Williams called our findings “a real cause for concern”, adding that while “manufacturers will stop at nothing to keep their vehicles secure”, it seemed “criminal groups are continuing to find ways around them”.
Williams also said police cuts could be impacting rates of car theft. “We are concerned that the declining number of police officers could be resulting in less investigation of motor crime like this, something that could be solved by forces having greater resources,” he explained.
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