Express & Star

Express & Star comment: Doing your bit to halt car crime

For anyone who has not been living under a rock, it is common knowledge that the West Midlands is in the midst of a crime wave.

Published
Police are tackling car crime

To a large degree it is understandable that the surge in violent crime gets the vast majority of the headlines.

The number of assaults and robberies is through the roof, as are offences involving knives, while the region’s murder rate is at a 10-year high.

However, we must not allow the huge rise in car crime to go unnoticed.

It is a cold, hard fact that over the last two years, vehicle crime has risen sharply.

Since West Midlands Police launched a campaign to clamp down on so-called chop shops, the force has recovered a staggering 631 vehicles worth £1.6 million.

Officers have also made 280 arrests as part of a series of operations designed to disrupt gangs involved in these crimes.

For a long time, incidents of car crime reduced across the region year-on-year.

But the recent spike appears to be down to a spiralling demand for stolen car parts.

This has fuelled a worrying rise in crimes including car key burglaries and violent car-jackings.

Naturally, we are reliant on the police to shut down these operations and to ensure that those involved are hauled before the courts.

But with officer numbers low and police force resources already over-stretched – not forgetting the shambolic state of Britain’s judiciary – we must all be a bit more vigilant.

It is down to us to make life as difficult for the criminals as possible.

This means helping the police by reporting suspected chop shops. This has already resulted in a number of illegal enterprises being shut down.

We should also not leave our car keys in plain view.

The Government must also play its part by examining the case for tighter regulations on the re-sale of salvage cars once they have been repaired.

No one should underestimate the impact that vehicle crime has on our society.

It causes pain and misery on its victims and comes at a financial cost to us all in terms of increased insurance premiums.

We can all do our bit to stop vehicle crime.