News and Events
See other news storiesFunding for fight against vehicle crime
22 July 2009
A police intelligence unit dedicated to fighting organised vehicle crime such as cloning cars’ identities has received £300,000 to continue its work.
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, coordinating intelligence and best practice as well as recovering stolen vehicles, with more than £14m worth of stolen vehicles reclaimed since 2006.
While vehicle crime remains historically low, 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.
'Cars and vans much harder to steal'
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said, 'Vehicle crime has fallen by 65% since 1995. This is a significant achievement that would not have been possible without the work of AVCIS. By coordinating 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.'
Figures
- police-recorded crime for 2008/2009 shows a 10% fall in offences against vehicles and criminal damage
- during the same period the British Crime Survey shows that vehicle-related thefts and vandalism were stable
- in 2006/2007 195,000 cars were stolen in the United Kingdom. That number fell to 177,000 in 2007/2008.
AVCIS
Since its creation AVCIS has recovered more than 1,400 vehicles. The total value of all recovered assets is more than £32.5m.
AVCIS offers the UK police service:
- a single point of contact for advice in relation to vehicle crime
- a team committed to tackling vehicle enabled crime
- an opportunity to work free from the barriers and constraints of a single police force
- no draw on resources for other operational matters
- a credible voice for the service within the industry
