'Kids are stealing top spec cars in seconds': Police boss hits out at manufacturers as car thefts rise
The number of motor vehicles stolen in the West Midlands has more than doubled over the last four years, new figures show.
West Midlands Police dealt with 10,372 stolen vehicle reports in 2018-19 – a 121 per cent increase on the 4,695 cases seen in 2014-15.
It is the biggest rise of any force area in the country, and comes as the senior officers warned that top spec cars were being broken into and stolen by teenagers in less than a minute.
In Staffordshire the number of thefts rose 93 per cent from 944 to 1,831, while in the West Mercia Police area the increase was 62 per cent, from 857 to 1,389.
The biggest numerical increase came in London, where the Met saw an extra 9,595 vehicle thefts in 2018-19, leaving a total of 30,733.
Government data shows that a key is used in nearly half of all thefts, with crooks stealing car keys from inside people's homes becoming increasingly common in recent years.
However, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson says manufacturers need to do more to make their vehicles more secure.
'Disgrace'
He says the force is tackling the issue "at source" by going after the chop shops that profit from the trade in stolen vehicles.
But he added: "Police action alone can’t tackle this issue. Manufacturers need to also focus on making the vehicles they sell more secure. That’s why I have been pressuring them for some time.
"It is a total disgrace that manufacturers allow their sophisticated, hi-tech vehicles to be stolen by 17-year-old kids in a little over 30 seconds.
"Some manufacturers have started to take responsibility – but for years they have been doing virtually nothing on keyless theft.
"Some of the manufacturers seem to be about three phases behind the criminals because the keyless access technology is developing so quickly. It has become a multi-billion-pound business."
RAC Insurance spokesman Simon Williams, said: "While organised criminal gangs are responsible for a large proportion of crime, thieves will also be opportunistic in nature so the more a driver can do to make their car a less likely target the better."
