New approach to truck crime
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Operators should not expect police to come running when they've had a truck stolen, says a security official. Guy Sheppard reports.
HAULIERS WHO suffer from theft often have unrealistic expectations about how the police will react, according to the head of a pioneering truck crime initiative.
David Ransom of Truck Watch says: "At the moment, there's a tendency to phone 999 and then moan if the police don't turn up."
The Sheffield-based organisation maintains a database of truck drivers' phone numbers for local police to use when seeking help in finding stolen trucks and loads.
Ransom is planning to launch a programme in May to educate more than 400 hauliers based in South Yorkshire about how the police operate.
"Businesses tend to think of them sitting in a police station waiting for phone calls," he says. "It does not work like that. We still want all incidents to be reported because they all add to the intelligence picture that builds up when police analyse them." Ransom believes the education programme should help reduce the frustration hauliers feel if police fail to turn up when they report a crime.
The initiative will also focus on practical ways of dealing with crime. One idea adopted locally is designed to reduce the risk of hijackings by bogus police officers.
It involves issuing drivers with a printed sign saying they will only open up their cabs if they are escorted to the nearest police station.