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On the BBC news site there is a piece on people stealing trim and panels from parked cars - and their is some CCTV footage showing a couple of guys doing it, and I can't believe they look so casual and unhurried....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33348506

I would have thought theft would have involved at least some level of stress ...?

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Just discussing this with Mo on texts....

Finally someone doing something positive with Vauxhalls :)

Clearly being stolen to order... Sprayed and fitted (Or maybe not sprayed if the right colour..)

Can't be that hard to check a few repair facilities in the Luton / Bedford area!

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No serial numbers or marking - far less detectable

even if caught with the bits its hard to link back to multiple crimes which makes the tariff less.

Every time I look on ebay for cheap defender bits I think that its probably someones pride and joy that I would be buying..

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Around here they were stealing tyres off cars in car parks by swapping the wheels for ones with bad tyres. Most people didn't know they'd been done. It was some of the Eastern European chaps that were doing it to fill their vans when they went home as things like tyres are very expensive in places like Romania and they could make enough to cover their diesel and more.

We've always had hassle taking vans into Europe as they want proof that your not transporting freight, I guess they look at an old van full of junk and figure it's worthless so you can't be selling it?

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Wasn't there a spate of this with Puma defender doors & bonnets going walkies?

Maybe coincidence but there's a bit on the radio now about people staging accidents and demanding money by the roadside, maybe the same guys are nicking replacement bits to keep fixing their car and keep the scam going :huh:

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Did you read about the guy who for £500 would crash your car then give you the injury money? The only problem was he did it at the same roundabout every time, local office workers kept seeing him and eventually filmed him and gave it to the police :)

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There is a growing group of people who see nothing wrong in living off other people. They know the chance of getting caught are low, and the consequences of getting caught nothing to worry about. Not the time to reduce spending on the Police in my view.

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..I would have thought theft would have involved at least some level of stress ...?

Not really. Unfortunately these scrotes know that the worst that will happen is the police will be called. And they probably have lookouts located nearby to warn them if the police are approaching.

They will feel confident that there probably won't be any physical intervention as most people would be too scared to challenge a few guys wielding hammers etc.

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Theft like this grinds my gears as we're pretty much powerless to stop this once its set in motion, other than physically restraining someone (which puts you in danger).

I'm sure I remember on some techy show a sticky foam that was invented to stop people and is was so gloopy it stuck them together...

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.... Sting operation required?

Problem is vehicle crime (theift) is seen as too low level in my opinion as no one is hurt or threatened plus we are all insured so no one loses out (or that seems to be the perception...). Proper sentancing (benefit of the doubt 3 strikes and you're out minimum 15 years say) may curb it a little, but then the cost to the tax payer would be ~£600,000 per 15 year sentance (£40k/yr/prisoner), guess the cost of the crime is not yet high enough to warrant a scentancing or law change... (Like the reason why credit card companies finally brought in chip &pin as the cost of CC fraud exceeded the cost of implementation)

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But what about the hidden costs to society. As more people find they can get away with living outside the law, and have a better and easier life stealing from others more people will join in and live that way. It becomes socially acceptable to many, The crumbling edge of society and civilisation. It is one way a society can wither and die.

Putting people in the stocks is now unacceptable, but it is a cheap and effective way of controlling crime. Sometimes the old ways had good reasoning behind them. Perhaps if prisons were much less pleasant places to stay it would put some of them off, but until there is an effective means of catching a much greatter proportion of criminals discussing punishment is largely pointless.

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There is a growing group of people who see nothing wrong in living off other people. They know the chance of getting caught are low, and the consequences of getting caught nothing to worry about. Not the time to reduce spending on the Police in my view.

I thought this thread was about car thieves not investment bankers :)

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You have to wonder whether the reward is worth the effort and consequences if caught.

I'm reminded of a couple of stories told by an old workmate of mine. He was out of work for a time and had taken a job at Gatwick patrolling car parks, boost starting cars etc. He told the story of an E-type where the engine had been stolen sometime during a two week holiday. This was before the advent of CCTV everywhere and the patrols averaged about an hour between visits. The local Jaguar dealership reckoned that it was a two day job in a properly equipped workshop and couldn't be done without ramps and special tools. If the police had caught them they would have been offered a job.

He also told of fuel theft during fuel shortages of the 70's. Thieves were cutting through the perimeter fence and using an aircraft pump to empty fuel tanks. Equipped that way they could flush a tank in seconds. Unfortunately, the suction was so strong that it flattened some tanks - leaving owners wondering why their cars showed all the symptoms of no petrol whilst the fuel gauge read full.

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.....(Like the reason why credit card companies finally brought in chip &pin as the cost of CC fraud exceeded the cost of implementation)

That was bought in to shift the liability for fraud from the credit card company to the consumer (not reduce the level of fraud), eventually it was proven they screwed up the protocol and there are a number of ways that cards can be used without the pin so some of the liability once more lays with the credit card company.

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That was bought in to shift the liability for fraud from the credit card company to the consumer (not reduce the level of fraud), eventually it was proven they screwed up the protocol and there are a number of ways that cards can be used without the pin so some of the liability once more lays with the credit card company.

Barry think the official reason was as I gave, but the real intent / reason was as you listed. Long and the short don't think the dedication is being given to all manor of noninjury vehicle crime, we have enough laws but not a good enough deterant. And the perpetrators know it... Although being in the public interest it probably won't win votes when health, education, jobs and taxes are the sound bites of the day.

Snafu and most people cba to lobby for change which is the only real way of sorting it unless you catch one yourself in the act or it starts actually costing someone a genuine whole load of money from their pocket that can't be passed on to Joe public through increasing premiums (never happen!).

Rob

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But of a tangent but the chip was envisaged to carry large amounts of data. Credit card, debit card, driving license, passport, health records etc etc. It was even proven to be viable as a device for a cashless society. Some of it made large scale trials but the only bits were left with are things like the oyster card, pre paid foreign currency cards, chip and pin etc

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I think the problem is that the criminal justice system is based on the threat of taking away something you value - be it money or freedom. If you're in a position where you don't think you have much of value - and maybe don't value your freedom then there isn't a disincentive regardless of the penalty. The risk / reward ratio looks more favorable.

I think what is required is a different kind of penalty. Something like community service (or public flogging ;) ). Something that involves a bit of public humiliation. However, I think the public, or perhaps more accurately the tabloid press wants 'revenge' - and things like community service are viewed as a soft touch. Thus it will probably never happen!

Si

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