Thames Valley Police "farce" denied

Thames Valley says it was wrongly branded most crime-hit police force by national newspaper

THAMES Valley Police has been wrongly branded Britain's most crime-hit police “farce,” it was claimed this week.

The force dimissed a story in a national newspaper headlined: ‘Police farce: Thames Valley tops list of crime-hit forces... with 88 thefts from patrol cars and two from its stations.'

The story was bolstered by figures released following requests made to each force in Britain using the Freedom of Information Act (FoI).

Even so, of the 55 FoI requests made, 28 forces refused to release the figures.

The newspaper story lambasted Thames Valley Police - which did comply with the request - stating that it had been “the victim of 90 separate crimes over the past three years....88 thefts from patrol cars and two from its police stations.”

However, force spokesman Craig Evry revealed that the truth lay elsewhere.

He explained that the majority of the thefts took place from “trap cars” and added: "Thames Valley Police is one of several forces to use ‘trap houses' and ‘trap vehicles.' These are used in areas which police believe are being targeted by burglars or thieves.

“When criminals break in, they could be recorded by cameras or any property taken may be remote tagged or marked with ultraviolet inks allowing police to quickly track it down. It's a useful criminal reduction and evidence tool and criminals should realise that the home or vehicle they're breaking into might be covered by hidden cameras. Hopefully using this technology might make them think twice about committing a crime."

The FoI response included the caveat: “Please note that of the above thefts recorded, all but six involved ‘trap vehicles' deployed specifically to be targeted by offenders.”

Mr Evry said: “They simply misinterpreted the data.”