Police warning - Increase in tratter thefts

Watch out tratterers:

Taken from LRO email:

Thieves have targeted Defenders for several years. With childishly basic security compared to other Land Rover models combined with a vast and voracious market for used parts, stolen Defenders have fed a lucrative black market for years. Newer model Defenders are still vulnerable. Readily available devices can bypass the immobiliser of newer versions in a matter of seconds, with the vast majority of Defenders whisked away without the keys.

The most popular areas for stealing Defenders appears to be West Mercia, Shropshire and Cornwall and the most popular items being removed from vehicles are body panels, doors, headlights and bonnets, which often 'disappear' in the night. Very few of the Land Rover Defenders stolen have been recovered and the well-supported belief is that the stolen vehicles are being broken down for parts or leaving the country via shipping containers.

However, there is plenty you can do to protect your precious Defender from determined thieves and casual opportunists alike. From removing smaller critical parts of the engine, such as your rotor arm or disconnecting the distributor cap, or even the battery, can help deter thieves with little mechanical knowledge.

Other options include: install in-car security devices that disable the pedals or steering locks that prevent your steering wheel from being turned. Immobilisers and alarms can be fitted with the added advantage of potentially reducing your insurance premium.

Sadly, a thief will always get your car if given the time. The key is to provide enough off-putting hassles and time consuming anti-theft deterrents in his way so that thieves can’t afford to risk it.

For a further in-depth look at keeping your Landy safe, check out the March 2015 issue of LRO.

Maybe the Police could place a higher priority on catching these people, who are raping the UK of millions of pounds per year.
Sure, put that speed camera van on a wide open stretch of the A30 to make some much needed cash, but then use some of that cash to target known theft areas.
How about planting a few Land Rovers in a "sting" operation like they do in the USA.

And then when they catch the scum, make them pay for the damage they have done. And don't put them out on bail so they can clear off out of the country on the next boat.
Get them on work gangs, how about helping to build the new MCR airport relief road? There's a lot of manual labour needs doing on that bad boy in the next two years.....tree felling, digging, fence erecting etc

Answer, we are as soft as s***e and our police, have a lot to learn, we are the laughing stock of Europe, setting up stings lol, can you imagine what a blox we'd make of that, take there great advice, spend all your hard earnt to make them safe as possible so the plod don't have to disrupt there tea to issue you a crime number, and make there life easier,
I've read one coppers help on here which is refreshing but one out of a million is a joke.
Have I faith in our policing system no,
But that's life and we choose not to change it.

lightning said:

Maybe the Police could place a higher priority on catching these people, who are raping the UK of millions of pounds per year.
Sure, put that speed camera van on a wide open stretch of the A30 to make some much needed cash, but then use some of that cash to target known theft areas.
How about planting a few Land Rovers in a "sting" operation like they do in the USA.

And then when they catch the scum, make them pay for the damage they have done. And don't put them out on bail so they can clear off out of the country on the next boat.
Get them on work gangs, how about helping to build the new MCR airport relief road? There's a lot of manual labour needs doing on that bad boy in the next two years.....tree felling, digging, fence erecting etc

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How dare you, these people have rights...it's a fooking joke tbh just hope to God (and touch wood) never ever find myself or family at the mercy of these villain cnuts.

Convictions are based on the rule of the law. The police don't make the law, they just enforce it.

Hippo said:

Convictions are based on the rule of the law. The police don't make the law, they just enforce it.

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I think the point being made though is that for convictions to be made or for the law to be enforced that the criminals have to be persued and investigated in the first place.

Police are just not police anymore, there's a massive can't be arsed attitude, because of the different levels of violence crime and the real hard scum out there who don't give a ****, the police brick it, and I've actually seen it, it's a society of now make some cash, speeding fines etc, to me, get some real preventative work done and you'll see crime drop, I went to a question and answer day at Sheffield, it was a joke I asked a leading officer about vehicle theft and break ins, he said its uoto the individual to make sure is vehicle is secure, I said against what? He said against thieves trying to steal and damage, I said isn't that your job in policing, he smiled and never answered, Tosser.

There's 2 sides to this. The first being the ability to catch the perpetrator. Whilst I agree the police are there to do that and should do it, they need something to go on. Catching them in the act means someone has to see them do it. The police can't be everywhere. There int enough of them. They do respond fast if the crime is actually happening and someone is available. You have to admit that's a bit of a gift horse so it's likely they will want the chance of an arrest. Catching them afterwards when the vehicle has gone probably doesn't leave any evidence at the crime scene. A failed attempt may leave finger prints or tools. The reg plate oft the get away car... All of this is down to a bit of luck, and someone seeing/reporting it. Cameras are good but they only record what happened. They're not always a deterrent as the thief only needs to cover up so he can't be recognised. An alarm would help notify peeps the vehicle was in distress which would alert anyone interest that something may be happening. Additional security devices would mean the theft takes longer to complete. An extra 30 seconds doesn't sound like much but it could make the difference. But this is all about police catching them at it, which I think owners can help with.

The other side of the coin is for the owners to put up a bigger fight. Increasing security above the standard crap level LR provide helps to reduce the chance of theft in my opinion. I'm not just talking alarms etc. Parking on a quiet industrial estate over night has got to be a big risk anorl. Fitting additional items like wheel locks, pedal locks, other vehicles in the way, chopping down yer hedge so neighbours can see yer tratter... all adds up to an improvement in a theft being seen or taking longer to do. I agree eggspurts are quicker and turn up prepared with knowledge etc but some of the effort to reduce crime also needs to be on the individual as well as the police. It's easy to blame the police - wee all do it - but helping them by helping yer tratter has got to be given some thought. You can't stop all thefts but you can make it more difficult. Not just difficult to take, but difficult to hide at a later date. Like window etching or stamping parts with yer reg plate so they're traceable to some extent in the future if found or the new owner puts it in goo gle. Window companies like autoglass will etch windows for free. A metal stamp kit is £10 or less to buy. It could make the different between the vehicle being returned or not, if found. Other than that the only chance you have is a tracker or catching them nicking yer tratter in the first place. Police programs say house burglars want 2 things: cash and car keys.

I guess at the end of the day it's down to the owner to make the choice. Increase security or not. Take steps to try to reduce the chance of it being stolen or not.

Edit: Autoglass have now stopped this service
see ere for more options: https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/security-etching-glass.242382/

In certain areas I agree with both parts, but my point is, why arnt they doing more to stop what is a growing crime rate, we are suppose to live in a protected state, why should we have to go to these great lengths, the deterrent are a hand slap etc, it's a joke really, if the police did more to make a report after physical visit, and write a full report, instead of getting a phone call with a crime number, it's not our place to do what we do, it's the polices to look after us and protect us from the scum that walk around nicking our motors,
Let's be real, they don't really give a crap, it's just another hassle to them, there happy just getting by, I agree there are exceptions but to be honest there's not many,
I don't know the real answers but it's a big shame we have to go to the lengths we do to protect our motors.

Oh and before you say it, I don't hate the police, I think we need them, there's always the issues of the police get them to court and the old farts in wigs let them off,
They have a place, but let's all think now and be honest, are they the deterrent they use to be? My daughters son says there a joke, only like telling kids off or someone who Darnt have a go back, thank Christ they don't issue them with guns, they'd be shooting speeders,
I once called them at 2.30am in the morning after hearing my neighbours back patio door smash while they were on holiday, it took 2.40 hrs to come out, I literally had to shout and set my house alarm off for them to do a runner,,when they arrived I gave them some ****, they ask if I got a look at them, I said if you had got here quicker you'd have got them he said yes sorry we were on another job, what a lying Tosser, probably having a cuppa, they seriously don't care about real crime, anyway that's my tuppeneth, we need some proper cops or town mercenaries it would stop in a crack,

Police budgets have been cut. They've been told to sort themselves out and be more efficient, but I don't think that will provide the same level of service as previous. Hence crime increases due to less detection or the public fight back by being more vigilant, increasing security or both. Ether way you pay in policing or for the deterrent. Peeps always say it's the changing culture of crime being easy money, peeps not being scared of the police and punishments not fitting the crime...

As above, the Police have undergone massive budget cuts and are ridiculously overstretched. My wife works in a police control room and they see the effect on the ground. The level of service to the public has dropped due to too few police out there. It's a crazy situation and with more people coming into the country, demand on their services is only going to go one way. In my mind, cuts to policing would be the last thing on my agenda. Improvement yes but budget cuts, no.

Karls said:

As above, the Police have undergone massive budget cuts and are ridiculously overstretched. My wife works in a police control room and they see the effect on the ground. The level of service to the public has dropped due to too few police out there. It's a crazy situation and with more people coming into the country, demand on their services is only going to go one way. In my mind, cuts to policing would be the last thing on my agenda. Improvement yes but budget cuts, no.

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Not necessarily all about money. The police are extremely well paid anyway, compared to people in other jobs that are important to society.
Some people, including serving and ex police officers, feel that there could be room for improvements in efficiency as well.
Some individuals within the force don't seem able to cover as much ground as workers in other sectors, but it is very difficult to sack a police officer, unless there is gross misconduct or indiscipline.

Do you think that the people who are taking the land rovers haven't been stood in court for the same or similar offences and that they haven't been sentenced?
They will have. I know that land rover thieves have been in court and admitted to a high number of thefts but this is where the system let's us down.

I'm sure all of us could provide an example of someone being sentenced for a crime where we would expect not to see them see years however with lack of prisons, funding, good behaviour etc etc etc they are released in no time at all.

If you are making more money than you could in a legit job and have no other things in life a month or so in warm and catered accommodation isn't too bad.

The bloke in court admitted he got 5k for each new land rover he took for stripping. He had a list which would have got him around 70k within the year.
A lot of people would do a year for that amount of money.

Police are working hard and like all jobs have some nobs working for them however I'm sure they would be a hell of a lot more motivated if they new that fighting to get someone convicted meant a real sentence.

donk56 said:

Police are working hard and like all jobs have some nobs working for them however I'm sure they would be a hell of a lot more motivated if they new that fighting to get someone convicted meant a real sentence.

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You could be right. There are a number of inefficiencies at all levels in the criminal justice system.

To sum up... we don't think the police have the funds/ability to stop vehicle crime. Criminals see vehicle/tatter thefts as easy money and well worth the risk as sentencing is only a few months away from having to work for a leaving. Therefore thefts will continue. Hence it's up to us in the LR world to either stop buying second hand parts which may have been stolen, or increase yer heaps security in the hope an attempted theft doesn't become a theft...

Hippo said:

To sum up... we don't think the police have the funds/ability to stop vehicle crime. Criminals see vehicle/tatter thefts as easy money and well worth the risk as sentencing is only a few months away from having to work for a leaving. Therefore thefts will continue. Hence it's up to us in the LR world to either stop buying second hand parts which may have been stolen, or increase yer heaps security in the hope an attempted theft doesn't become a theft...

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Both are a good idea!
Think you are right, do what you can to keep yours and only buy SH from reputable source. Way to go!

Grezzer said:

Police are just not police anymore, there's a massive can't be arsed attitude, because of the different levels of violence crime and the real hard scum out there who don't give a ****, the police brick it, and I've actually seen it, it's a society of now make some cash, speeding fines etc, to me, get some real preventative work done and you'll see crime drop, I went to a question and answer day at Sheffield, it was a joke I asked a leading officer about vehicle theft and break ins, he said its uoto the individual to make sure is vehicle is secure, I said against what? He said against thieves trying to steal and damage, I said isn't that your job in policing, he smiled and never answered, Tosser.

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Perhaps you would like a couple of plod to stand outside your house all day to save you locking the front door. Why not accept you have a responsibility to protect your own property to prevent theft in the first place, or maybe you want someone else to do that for you as well.

It would be nice to think that all LR owners could work together to try to reduce thefts. Marking parts in the event they're found when stolen (or falling oft) is so easy it's hard to get peeps to do it. I would like to think if mine were stolen then someone might spot one of his marked parts at a later date. The very least would be a charge of handling stolen property. The best bit is this would allow the police to look at what they're doing with greater powers.

I have to clarify a few things here......the police don't hold the decision to charge...in most cases, that is the job of the crown prosecution service.
The police don't sentence people and are not allowed to mention previous convictions in court as that may influence the magistrate / judge / jury / public opinion etc.
The sentence is given is generally halved in actual time served. (Looks good, saves money)
Reduce expensive police officer numbers and use untrained but uniformed pcso's (looks good, saves money)
Catching someone with a few stolen car parts bought 'from a car boot sale' won't get to court.
I would think that after years of risking your life chasing car thieves, burglars, sex offenders, pedos, murderers and some really nasty people, only to find that the system treats them as the victim, would pizz anybody off.
No I'm not a copper.... But I do know, if only a tiny percentage of the millions of people flowing into this country are bad, things ain't gonna get any better.
The UK has streets paved with gold, when that's all dug up, stolen, sold or given away (thanks Brown) we will still get around town in the land rover...