• Press area / Press area / News 

The MetaSAT GPA800 is being used by Torbay police in the fight against car crime.

With car crime accounting for a quarter of all recorded crime and costing £3 billion a year, the Prime Minister has set a national target to reduce car crime by 30% over five years. This means that police forces are having to find innovative ways to both prevent and catch criminals.

The most common vehicle criminals are young offenders who turn to stealing possessions from vehicles to fund habits. In 2002/03, there were 658,740 recorded offences of theft from a vehicle.

One innovative initiative has just been launched by police in Torbay. Following a pilot test carried out by Bath Constabulary who recorded a reduction of 30 per cent in car crime in 12 months, Torbay police have introduced covert capture vehicles in Torbay and the surrounding districts of South Hams, Teignbridge and West Devon.

The covert capture cars are an innovative concept which the police believe will have a significant impact on reducing car crime in the area. The initiative has two objectives; first to catch and convict offenders breaking into the vehicles and secondly to put the potential offenders in fear of being caught in the first place, therefore deterring the offenders from committing vehicle crime.

The cars are parked in hot spot crime areas and left unattended. If the vehicle is tampered with in any way, the specialist video equipment triggers and begins to record what is happening in and around the vehicle. The audio and video equipment allows police to capture evidence of anyone breaking into the vehicles, which will be invaluable to secure court convictions.

In addition, the covert capture vehicles are fitted with the latest satellite tracking system supplied by MetaSystem and installed by one of the company's approved dealers, Autoquip. The MetaSAT GPA800 allows the police to trace the vehicle should it move from its location and also sends an alert to allocated mobile phones held by the police to inform them that the car has been broken into.

"This is the first time that the MetaSAT has been used in this type of initiative and we are privileged to be working with the police to reduce car crime. The interactive nature of the system means the police will know everything that happens to the covert vehicle by interrogating the system for status and location, explains Kevin Lynch, Sales Director of MetaSystem UK.

"The system offers an innovative solution for anyone wanting to be in control of their own vehicle. The GPA's ability to remotely safely immobilise the vehicle the next time the ignition is switched off even if the thief has the vehicle's keys, means the owner can prevent the car from being moved further, providing valuable time to inform the police of the location."

Torbay police have plans to set up further initiatives with neighbouring police forces so that covert cars can be swapped around and in the hope that it will encourage other forces to start schemes.

Sergeant Jim Hinchcliffe from the Torbay Police Proactive Unit said: "This high-tech equipment will be an effective weapon in the fight to reduce vehicle crime in the area. The fact criminals will not know whether or not they are breaking into a car which will record their every move will clearly make them think twice."

Torbay police will be working very closely with the Prolific Offender Unit who deal with potential car criminals and Torbay's Youth Offending Team. Nigel Denning from the Youth Offending Team said, "we are pleased to be working with the police in tackling car crime. This initiative will proactively reduce car crime and deter those young people open to such temptations."