Do the police take caravan crime, and especially caravan theft, seriously enough?
- Friday, 5 December 2008
- 5 Comments
Do the police take caravan crime, and especially caravan theft, seriously enough?
YES says Chris Harrington
The major problem is the theft of caravans themselves. The trouble for the police tackling caravan crime is that often, by the time they are told that a caravan has been stolen, it is long-gone. Also, generally speaking there is visually nothing to identify one caravan from another so even if the police are suspicious it may be impossible to confirm it as stolen without impounding it while a thorough check is made.
That said, over the last ten years the number stolen has fallen to around 3,000 per year. Much of the credit for this goes to the CRiS scheme which is increasingly used by the police to check on caravans they suspect as stolen. As well as this, the increasing use of GPS tracking devices is helping them to tackle the problem since GPS location enables them to know exactly where a stolen caravan is, allowing them to retrieve it and arrest the thieves. And if you need further proof that the police are taking the problem seriously, read the reports in mentioning the large number of forces who send officers to the crime conferences organised throughout the year by bodies such as the NCC and the major clubs.
NO says Angela Patterson
We're fortunate to not have had our caravan stolen, yet. We had it broken into once, and that was traumatic enough. Besides a bottle of gin, the thief made off with credit cards, camera lenses, a handbag and, most worryingly, the spare keys to the car.
A policeman suggested we get a guard dog and issued an incident number for the insurance, because, as he said, we were not likely to see our belongings again. We doubted he ever intended to chase the thieves. Would the attitude have been any different had the entire caravan gone? I doubt it, and that is truly worrying. We bought an intruder alarm and we?ve also attached an array of anti-theft devices, but nothing short of locking it in a six-inch cage will keep the villains away.
If I am so audacious as to be 5mph over the limit when I pass a speed camera, you can be sure I'll be captured. But how many of the crooks who take caravans are brought to book? Unless we do the police's work for them, very few, if any. Caravan theft? It's as unimportant as car theft, and even lower on the list of priorities.
Reader comments
Add your commentsOctober 29 12:43
Andy Partlin
We lost or caravan, lock stock and barrel, six months ago. After the initial sadness we were delighted when it was returned by the police, albeit in a battered state. I realise that we were exceptionally lucky but in this instance I can only commend the boys in blue for their most satisfactory job.
October 29 13:11
Mary Whitehaven
As we depend on our caravan for our holidays, we were devastated to lose our beloved Clara two years ago. We never got any kind of follow up from the police after their first visit, even despite our continued enquiries. We felt as if they didn't care, and the general lazy attitude towards our loss was quite shocking.
October 29 14:22
Clive Fisher
I have never been the victim of caravan theft, and I appreciate the emotions that run through those who have, but I would urge people to put such crimes in perspective. You are covered by insurance, and there are much greater problems for our understaffed police to handle, such as murder.
January 16 21:14
s. bonser
We had cause to call the police when someone attempted to set our van on fire on our front yard. I called them at 4.30am they turned up at 1.45pm only after another call to them. I don't know what would have happened if the arsonist had suceeded, there were two gas bottles in the front locker and the van was near the gas mains on our house, so we could have been blown to bits along with our neighbours on both sides. Fortunatley I disturbed him and he ran off. Arson and possible attempted murder and STILL the police officer said he did not know if it was serious or not. We have not seen the officer since. So, do they take van crime seriously? I dont think so.
January 29 12:41
Peter Hammond
No, I had my caravan stolen off a site after comming back from holiday. I didn't have time to empty it of our possessions but fitted all the security devices ie: hitchlock, wheelock, cornersteady locks and infrared entry alarm. When I contacted the police to inform them it had been stolen it took them well over 2 hours to attend and did takeaway various items to fingerprint but to no avail. The insurance company did pay out but it doesn't make up for the loss or the heartbreak of loosing something you have so much affection for. I now have a new van and have a Phantom Active Tracker device fitted to it, I would highly recomend this device as I have forgotten to turn it off once or twice and within a few hundred yards of moving off have received a Phone call informing me that my caravan is moving.