Crime Commissioner says spikes in car thefts in certain areas of Herts is likely ‘organised crime’

POLICE and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd has highlighted spikes in car thefts in certain areas of the county – suggesting that ‘organised crime’ is likely to blame.

At a meeting of the county council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel Mr Lloyd said that car manufacturers would ultimately find a way of closing down thefts using cloned keys.

But he also highlighted the potential benefits of Faraday bags and ensuring car doors were locked.

“In certain areas there is a spike in car thefts,” he told councillors, in response to a question.

“Broadly, the way it’s happening suggests that these are organised crime groups rather than opportunistic thefts.”

Mr Lloyd said the use of Faraday bags – which don’t allow the key’s signal to go past the lining of the bag – meant that keys can’t be cloned by thieves quite so simply.

But pointing to the role of car manufacturers he said: “In the medium term the manufacturers will find a way of closing this down.

“I don’t know how they will do it, but that is what will happen – in the same way as people no longer steal car radios.

“They have no benefit in stealing car radios, because they can’t be used.

“You will be able to do the same thing with keys which will stop them being taken off the drive by cloned keys.”

Mr Lloyd suggested it may be beneficial to give motorists a Faraday bag for their keys whenever they purchased a car. But he acknowledged the reluctance in the industry to do so.

“I would have thought that would be a great thing to do,” he said.

“But I am told that for whatever reason, companies don’t like to say, ‘here’s your brand new car and it might be stolen off the drive’. So they don’t do that.

“I think that would be quite useful.”

At the meeting, Mr Lloyd also warned about the risks of leaving car doors unlocked.

“I would say to all members of the public, you will get theft from a motor vehicle if you always leave your car doors open,” he said.

“People will go down the road, I’m afraid, and try each of the doors and take from car vehicles.

“So simple things like always locking your car can help matters.

“And I recognise that some people say, ‘I prefer to have a theft from the car than to have it broken in to’.

“If it’s the case you want to leave it open, at least don’t leave items in there which are of value, which can be stolen. People need to think all those things through.”

Mr Lloyd made the remarks at a meeting of the county council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel on Friday (May 12).

What does a PCC do?

The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account. They are responsible for the totality of policing. PCCs aim to cut crime and deliver an effective and efficient police service within their police force area.