Met tackles plant theft

Plant theft in London is being tackled head on by the Metropolitan Police stolen vehicle investigation squad.

The unit has appointed four officers to collate information throughout the capital on organised gangs or individuals habitually involved in the theft and ringing of vehicles. It is also about to release a video destined to make the job of plant identification by Met officers significantly easier.

To enable officers to build up a London-wide picture of stolen plant, all intelligence material will be cross-referenced and entered on a central computer.

The unit is already starting to win the battle against theft and a special operation called ESSAU run earlier this year in the Home Counties resulted in the arrest of six people and return of 30 excavators.

Last week a œ35,000 Mercedes Benz HGV, stolen in Harrow, was discovered less than an hour later by both Essex and Met police in Rainham, Essex using Tracker, the stolen vehicle tracking system from Tracker Network. Although thieves bypassed the electronic alarm, immobiliser and steering wheel crook-lock they failed to find the tracking device. To date this system has led to the recovery of 200 vehicles worth some œ2.75 million.