18
Feb
2015
By Calvin at 13:30 GMT, 10 years ago
This from the North Wales Police News Pages (edited for length):
Motorists are being given the opportunity to help protect their vehicles from being stolen.
Vehicle Watch 25+ is a crime preventative measure to increase the likelihood of a stolen vehicle being spotted and stopped by police. It can also act as a deterrent against young car thieves.
Members of the public who register are given a Vehicle Watch pack containing crime prevention advice, registration letter, withdrawal letter, change of address form, other relevant information and specially-designed stickers to place in the front and rear screens of their vehicles. If the vehicle is then seen being driven by someone apparently under the age of 25 it may be stopped and checked by police.
Although theft of vehicles has reduced in recent years, evidence from 2014 has shown that most vehicle crime is committed by the under 25’s (64% of offenders were under 25)
PC Hazel Goss, Community Safety Officer from North Wales Police said: “Anyone over the age of 25 can join the scheme for free. It is open to all users, private and commercial. Once people have registered, a Vehicle Watch pack will be sent out which will include [the important] stickers.
“It has been very well received and to date none of the registered car owners have had their vehicle stolen. We hope many more people will join.”
The initiative was piloted in the Flintshire area in 2011 and re-launched in 2013. To date over 700 people have registered. Registration to the scheme does not expire unless it is withdrawn or a change of car ownership occurs.
If you would like to join the free scheme, please contact PC 1409 Hazel Goss at the Flintshire Community Safety Partnership on 01352 702145 or send an email to: hazel.goss@nthwales.pnn.police.uk
TCPW Comment: I think we can assume that the evaluation of the pilot in Flintshire proved this initiative to be a very effective way of reducing car thefts, so good luck to North Wales Police with their aims to reduce car theft, but what a shame the police haven’t released the results of the Flintshire analysis. If they had I think even more people might be tempted to sign up. Maybe they will.
Do remember too that keyless car theft has become quite a problem in some of our cities (see last week’s news story), so do everything you can to protect your car as advised by the police and this website
Source: North Wales Police: http://www.north-wales.police.uk/news-and-appeals/vehicle-watch-scheme-rolls-out-across-the-force.aspx
