Car thefts ‘decriminalised’ as three in four go unsolved and police taking up to 24 hours to respond

Car theft has been effectively decriminalised as three in four cases go unsolved, according to an analysis of official data. and police took up to 24 hours to respond to calls from victims.

Nearly 109,000 car theft offences went unsolved – equivalent to 298 cases a day – in 2023, according to Home Office figures. This accounted for 77 per cent of all car thefts recorded. Just three per cent of all cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed.

The Met was the worst performing police force, with 85 per cent of car thefts, or 33,237 cases,  going unsolved, followed by British Transport Police with 85 per cent of cases and South Yorkshire with 83 per cent.

This compared with 38 per cent in the best-performing force, Dyfed-Powys in Wales, and Norfolk, where just 39 per cent went unsolved.

The data, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, also showed that police took up to 24 hours to respond to calls from victims as car theft was deprioritised in favour of “higher harm” offences.

Average wait times

Freedom of Information requests revealed that in Durham victims were left waiting an average of 23 hours and 54 minutes for an officer to arrive at the scene in 2023, while wait times in Cleveland were nearly 13 hours on average.

By contrast, it was seven minutes 38 seconds in Avon and Somerset followed by 15 minutes 25 seconds in Humberside, 17 minutes 23 seconds in south Yorkshire and 21 minutes three seconds in Warwickshire.

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said car theft had been effectively legalised. “Thousands of criminals are getting away with it, and the buck stops with the Government,” he said.

“Victims of car theft are left feeling hopeless that they will never see justice. The vast majority of cases go unsolved and people are left waiting hours for the police to show up.”

The FOI data also showed Police failed to attend more than 70 per cent of car thefts last year despite an increase in incidents. Some 30,900 car thefts had no police officer attending the scene of the crime in 2023, accounting for 72 per cent of all cases.

Unattended thefts

The number of unattended thefts had also risen dramatically compared with previous years – up 32 per cent on 2021 which saw 22,979 unattended car theft incidents.

It comes as car hacking technology bought online by organised crime gangs has been blamed for fuelling an almost 20 per cent rise in vehicle thefts.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) says criminals are increasingly turning to devices which enable them to hack into and drive off with high-end cars – without having to steal the keys.

The so-called “electronic compromise” thefts also bypass keyless fobs, which have been the subject of increased security by car manufacturers after being targeted by thieves in recent years.

Broad daylight

There is also growing evidence that increasing numbers of thieves are towing cars from driveways or the side of the road in broad daylight.

Car security companies said they had seen an “alarming” rise in thefts in which criminals using tow trucks often wear high-visibility clothing in an attempt to appear legitimate.

Bryn Brooker, the head of road safety at Nextbase, a dash cam company, said thieves were “stepping up their game” and using increasingly brazen tactics.

“These are sophisticated professionals who know what they are doing,” he said. “Their latest tactic is to use trucks to move a vehicle. It reduces the chance of them being caught and makes the whole operation faster,” he said.