Combined Canterbury has had a meeting with Senior Sargent Det John Rae
John is in charge of Volume Crime and vehicle theft come under his umbrella.
John pointed out that he too is concerned at the high number of 4WD thefts in Canterbury as he too is an owner of a 4WD.
These are notes from the meeting. If anyone needs a point expanding I will do my best to answer.
Senior Sergeant started off with some stats.
-most stolen make is Nissan.
-Non Recovery of vehicles last year increased.
-Recovered rate went from 34% down to 26%.
-25% of all 4wd vehicles in NZ are in Canterbury.
-Most popular Decade at the present to be stolen is the 90’s vehicles.
-High population areas have high stolen car rates.
John explained the ins and outs of the car theft world and how they have been trying to catch the scrap metal dealers and the like not accurately keeping records.
He pointed out many times that if there is no market there would be many fewer thefts.
They have done several “stings”. Successful the first time (12 individuals locked up) but nothing the second time.
If a yard buys a car for scrap they can send it overseas straight away but if you strip it down as parts you have to hold those parts for 14 days before you can legally sell them.
While Egypt appears to be a destination talked about it is more likely the gateway to Africa.
Vehicles stolen in Chch may well be put in a container and shipped out of Auckland or Tauranga. Stripping down a shipping container normally produces no results as parts seldom have identification.
There is a list of stolen vehicles on the Police web site that is updated 3x a day.
http://www.police.govt.nz/stolen/vehiclesHe said that it is hard to identify vehicles once they have been stripped down for parts.
Mirco dotting was discussed. A spray can with dots in it. Good method. Remember to put some inside your tyres.
Jamie asked if more staff would help to stop thefts. John’s response was yes it would help but what Police force in the world has enough staff to do all tasks to their full capability.
John seems to think prevention is the Key.
Kerry asked what rights does a person have if their vehicle is been stolen off their property. The answer was they can use responsible force to protect their property.
John mentioned that a “bait 4wd” was left in town for several days but was not taken.
It was also said that if your vehicle has been stolen to give the police as much information as possible. Suggestions. Try and stamp or use something similar to identify parts off your vehicle.
We then listened to an Alarm expert
Pat Dollen spoke
Security system is only as good as it has been installed.
Suggested a kill switch that has 2 or 3 ways of demobilizing the vehicle. There are lots of “Cowboys” out there.
Alarms have a star rating from 1-5 but this system seems not to be working.
GPS Units talked about. There is not device that can screen/block or jamb the GPS signal as a lot of people believe.
The biggest thing that Pat could suggest is self-protection
lock vehicle when not in it,like at the dairy or gas station. any protection is better than no protection.
How many vehicles are out there with a door key similar to yours? Or how worn is your ignition.
Combined is arranging a discount on Installation of Alarms and GPS tracking.
Cheers
Graham
Chairman Combined 4WD
