WIREDGOV

The Association of Chief Police Officers’ Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (AVCIS) will use the annual grant, which has been increased from £200,000 to £300,000, to fund its ongoing work identifying emerging trends in vehicle crime, co-ordinating intelligence and best practice as well as recovering stolen vehicles, with more than £14 million worth of stolen vehicles reclaimed since 2006.

Vehicle crime remains historically low, however organised criminals continue to develop new ways of profiting from vehicle crime such as cloning legitimate cars’ identities for stolen vehicles and stealing high performance cars to order and shipping them abroad.

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:

“Vehicle crime has fallen by 65 per cent since 1995. This is a significant achievement that would not have been possible without the work of AVCIS. By co-ordinating police efforts nationally and working with industry, it has helped make Britain’s cars and vans much harder to steal.

“The Government is determined to keep up this good work which is why we have increased our funding for AVCIS from £200,000 to £300,000 to support its work and the leading role it plays in tackling the constantly evolving challenge of vehicle crime.”

Acting Detective Chief Inspector, Mark Hooper, Head of AVCIS, said:

“My team is absolutely determined to maintain the downward trend which last year saw approximately 65,000 less victims of vehicle crime than the year before. We are operating in a dynamic and ever-changing environment as organised criminals adapt to overcome security measures and evade detection.

“This funding contribution will ensure that we can continue to work with our partners to target criminal activity and drive down vehicle enabled crime, which in turn will have a positive impact on crime rates in general.”

Deputy Chief Constable David Ainsworth, of Wiltshire Police, and Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead on vehicle crime, said:

“The bare facts are that criminals involved in vehicle crime, are more often than not, involved in a whole spectrum of offending. This can be anything from low-level disorder and anti-social behaviour to crimes that are well organised, linked to gangs and sometimes are international in their reach and scale. 

“The funding recognises the pivotal role which AVCIS plays in co-ordinating the efforts of enforcement colleagues and many other partners committed to defeating such criminality.  The Minister's support for this vital work is most welcome."

AVCIS also incorporates a number of specialist units to address the wider remits of vehicle crime, including TruckPol, a team focused on freight crime, a specialist leisure sector investigator and the Vehicle Fraud Unit, which investigates organised finance fraud.

Paul Harrison, Head of Motor Finance at the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA), said:

“Financial crime is a big concern during a recession, so I am delighted that the Government has dedicated funding to the police to help combat car fraud and theft. The FLA’s ground-breaking partnership with AVCIS shows what an effective public-private sector partnership can achieve.

“The partnership helps finance companies detect fraudsters and recover their assets, which prevents more serious crimes and helps makes our roads safer for motorists. We look forward to continuing to work with the police.”

During the Minister’s visit to the AVCIS headquarters he saw a number of cloned vehicles as well as the unit’s freight crime prevention trailer and a JCB construction vehicle fitted with the CESAR registration system – a microchip containing ownership details embedded in the machine to deter theft.

He also met industry representatives who work with AVCIS to develop new ways of tackling vehicle related crime.