Car crime has fallen, says Home Office - Car crime down

Car crime has dropped 14% in the last year, but there are still more than 4500 incidents every day, according to new figures released by the Home Office today.

The British Crime Survey (BCS) reports that there were 1,709,000 incidents between October 2004 and September 2005, a 275,000 reduction on the same period the year before.

Even though the amount of reported crime is coming down, motorists interviewed in the survey are just as worried about falling victim to car criminals as the year before.

This has prompted the Home Office to launch a review of how statistics are collected and presented. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said: 'Despite the fact that most crime categories are falling, fear of crime is still too high and public perception is often at odds with reality'

The AA Motoring Trust welcomed the reductions, but, with thousands of incidents a day according to the BCS, spokesman Paul Watters said: 'There are still some glaring vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. It is not yet time to be complacent.'

Watters said the lessons learnt by motorists on keeping mobiles out of site now needed to be applied to other technology and possessions, such as portable satellite-navigation systems, but he also called for more secure gloveboxes.

With modern cars virtually impossible to steal without keys, criminals have also turned to mugging motorists. Watters said drivers needed to take greater care of their keys and consider having tracking devices fitted to their cars. More manufacturers should also fit tough laminated glass that can thwart smash-and-grab style attacks, he said.

A fifth of car crime occurs in car parks, prompting Watters to call for the introduction of a strict timetable to crack down on car park operators who refuse to improve security standards.