NSW Cops Hand Car Thieves the Get Out of Jail Free Card

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By John Cadogan | August 15th, 2011

If you had a $200-million-plus crime spree going on all around you, and the cops were doing essentially nothing, would you be outraged? Most people I know would be at least upset.

Better cue the upset-verging-on-outrage, then, because this is exactly what’s happening – at least in NSW.

Above: Car theft in NSW – a $200+ million industry

However much we might like to believe in fairness, the successful prosecution of thieves just isn’t happening – at least not on the road.

News Limited reported last weekend that in NSW alone, car thieves have an incredible 93 per cent chance of getting away with it. Apparently, 20,256 car thefts were reported in NSW last year. Of those, 1444 charges were laid – a paltry seven per cent of the total.

Actually the chances of getting away with it are even higher. If only seven per cent are charged, fewer than seven per cent would be successfully prosecuted…

If each of those cars stolen is worth just an average of $10,000 apiece, then you’re looking at a $200 million problem.

Above: Only seven per cent of NSW car thieves actually get charged

(Those breaking into homes, shops and offices were even slightly better off – just 6.5 per cent of the 58,261 reported B&Es last year resulted in charges. And, apparently, half of the fraudsters are getting away with it.)

The NSW cops say they are massively understaffed. Officially, the NSW Police Force claims it investigates every crime. However, it’s clearly giving motor vehicle theft the ‘once over lightly’ treatment. Correction: the ‘can’t be bothered’ treatment.

NSW Police Association president Scott Weber told News Limited that the cops were 500 down on their gazetted strength, a fact endorsed by the state’s Auditor General.

Above: not something a car thief generally experiences in NSW – sadly

It does seem somewhat galling, doesn’t it? Considering the resources marshalled against you as a driver, the fines, the tolls, the zero tolerance and the road infrastructure groaning under the weight of the cars it is expected to carry, it would seem only fair that is someone nicks your car, some official resources were brought to bear.

We are all paying for those unsolved thefts, every time we incur an insurance premium it’s factored in. If you think it’s the insurance companies copping the cost, think again – ultimately we all pay.

Above: Say hello to your car’s new owner

As things stand, the authorities can just about spot you from space if you’re just a few kays over the limit, and an armada of council rangers is marshalled against you, should you overstay your welcome at a parking meter by just a couple of minutes. But if some mongrel nicks your car, you better hope your insurance is up to date because, basically, you’re on your own.

Considering the contribution to the state’s (and Federal) coffers made by drivers, wouldn’t it be a fairer deal if a serious attempt were made to apprehend the people out there actually stealing cars? Wouldn’t it be a deterrent if more thieves were actually apprehended? I mean, if you thought you were actually going to get caught, wouldn’t you be somewhat less inclined to involve yourself in the car theft game?

Above: NSW Police Force guidelines on dealing with car thieves

As things stand, a 93 per cent chance of getting away with it is tantamount to giving the overwhelming majority of car thieves a ‘get out of jail free’ card. These are the kind of odds you can bet against. As things stand you’d have to be either dead stupid or dead unlucky to steal a car in NSW and actually get caught.

What do you think should be done?

Timmy

Why do i always see so many cops when something a little bit big happens? There’s no need for all of them to be at the same spot

Thema

Are they German Cops in the picture…I can see the Polizei on their helmet?

Old dog

Hang on. Your stats assume that there is a one to one car theft to thief ratio, and saying that it’s a 200 million dollar industry assumes that the cars are stolen for profit not joy riding, and that the thief if they were going to sell the car that they would get market rates for it… Are you sure you guys don’t work for today tonight? What a load of sensationalist drivel.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ John Cadogan

James,

I appreciate you taking the time to comment on CarAdvice. However, you’re wrong on about 100 levels.

First: they’re not our stats. They’re as reported by others, which the story states unequivocally.

Second, no such assumption about one-to-one ratios is made. The thieves get away in 93 per cent of offences. So you are more likely to get caught the more you do it (like other crime) subject to not getting better at concealing clues. In 93 per cent of offences of car theft, no charges are laid.

The estimate about the cost isn’t based on the money the thieves get (I sure hope you’re not an accountant) – it’s based on the estimated cost of insurance claims that arise as a result of the cars either not being recovered or being written off or damaged (I think you’d agree that $10k a pop is a reasonable estimate of an average).

Actually, occasionally I do work for Today Tonight – so you were right there.

While we appreciate you taking the time to comment James, please try to be more polite with your comments in future or you will be banned permanently from the site. Let’s have a debate about car theft and solving the problem, and please do it with a little more self-respect. Rude and/or insulting comments are no longer tolerated on CarAdvice.

Try telling anyone who has had their car stolen that highlighting the problem is ‘sensationalist drivel’. The cops are clearly asleep at the wheel on this.

Sincerely,

John Cadogan
Editor

JEKYL & HYDE

while it must be hard to calculate the real cost of car theft,i think old dog has a point.some of the figures are facts,but the cost is made up of assumptions(if?).what cars over 10 grand don’t have rolling code immobilisers nowdays.if they are priced over ten grand,you can bet that “save it” is right,and the car theft is the result of a home break in,and the thief finding the keys inside.admit it or not,the chances of a successful “rebirth” of a pinched car is shrinking,it’s more “joy riding” now(tinkler comes to mind)…
Deane

Hi John,

Does this mean that CarAdvice will begin actively enforcing it’s seemingly long-forgotten comments policy?

I’ve been an on and off reader pretty much since the beginning, as it’s as much about what readers have to say as the article for me, and I’ve been taking less and less time reading CA posts, including several stints of avoiding the site altogether.

Another blog I read consistently has a strict “talk about the issues, not the person” policy, and whenever someone levels an insult, that’s it they’re out.

Good luck in carrying through what you talk of here, I do hope to see consistency and most importantly perseverance as I believe the site will be much the better for it.

Cheers,
Deane.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ John Cadogan

G’day Deane,

Thanks for your views, and for returning to CarAdvice. I believe rude, aggressive, insulting or defamatory comments have no place on CarAdvice. For every fool who hides behind a bad pseudonym and indulges in this low-rent behaviour, 10 potentially valuable parties to the discussion are probably put off becoming part of the conversation.

You’ve hit the nail on the head in saying the discussion must be about the issue – in this case car theft and the fact that the NSW police don’t seem to solve very many cases of it. I’d like to see a whole bunch of debate about that, rather than small-minded criticisms of the story, CarAdvice or the contributors.

We don’t want to devote web space and resources to turning CarAdvice into a play area for the small-minded and offensive. Comments that are hyper-critical of the stories or the contributors will be deleted, and repeat offenders will be banned from commenting – to the benefit of the vast majority, who are happy to debate the issues in a relatively dignified way.

The main problem with that lies in managing the volume of comments on a daily basis – we’re still grappling with that.

Once again I really appreciate your input to the discussion.

Sincerely,

John Cadogan
Editor

UMWHAT

old dog’s comment wasn’t really insulting or trolling though, was more criticism

I understand you wanting to ban people who simply come here to cause trouble and nothing more, but relax a bit you don’t want this site to become one of those sites where all comments must be moderated before being able to show

Flying High

I think the story has missed the obvious importance of having police hiding on a corner of a three lane highway with a laser or radar device, raising State reve.., sorry, I mean stopping the dangerous practice of driving beyond the mind numbingly slow posted speed limit by pulling over unsuspecting manic drivers, who might have been doing 120 or even a whopping 125 on an empty highway.

You cannot imagine the hazard these perilous drivers pose and naturally, the things of lesser importance, such as car theft, must play second fiddle to these foolhardy mum and dad thugs, hooning on our roads.

And anyway, once the fun of breaking every rule in the RTA’s book to catch the car thief red handed, those same rules which suprisingly, do not apply to the NSW police thanks to their elevated level of driver training, well after all that, the joy is gone and who in the police can really be bothered doing all that follow up paper work to put the thief away anyway. Why, there is another 20,255 potential cops and robbers car chases to undulge in.
chook

Maybe the cops need their own private cars knocked off so they will get personal and determined with the car thieves . Obviously they dont care much about doing their jobs properly and i wonder what sort of people are actually being recruited into the NSW police . To any car thieves watching this……if i ever see any of you bastard parasites knocking off someones car i will deal with you my own way…..for the common good .
save it for the track

You think that Police haven’t had their personal cars stolen? I suppose you even think that Police haven’t had their homes broken into? Of course it has happened. I take it then that everyone would like to heighten their chances of being assaulted at work then? Become a cop.
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20,256 out of 4.8 million vehicles registered in NSW. Yeah, seems like a HUGE problem.
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Well publicised guidelines (which lead to the bad guys knowing what to do) to ensure safety result in many pursuits of stolen vehicles being stopped. That is worldwide.
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Nice to see the axe is being well grinded again.
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Some ‘car advice’. 1. don’t leave the keys in it, 2. lock it,

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ John Cadogan

Save it,

I don’t think it’s the front line police that deserve the blame for these clear-up rates. It’s political and senior management priorities.

Sorry if you assumed I was grinding the axe against front-line coppers. That wasn’t the intention: it’s the cops’ senior management and the minister’s department that needs to get their acts together.

Sincerely,
John Cadogan
Editor
Flying High

Oh I am sorry Save. Touched a raw nerve again have we?

My car was broken into, the boys in blue busted the perpetrator in the car with broken glass and wires everywhere and a now badly damaged car from a young hack who did not know what he was doing. The police knew exactly who he was.

It cost me a good sum of my hard earned money to fix it all and it was something I could ill afford. For me, with several jobs and uni, yeah it was a HUGE problem thanks very much.

To add a bit more of a kick in the guts, after the perpetrator did not turn up to his court appointment, so that 1. he could be formally prosecuted for his crime and 2. I could get recovery of costs, i asked said police-man how we go about bringing the criminal to justice. His response was a blase’ c’est la vie, “…dont worry he will offend again and you can put your claim in then…” and that is verbatim. No further effort was ever made to get this guy who was a local!

Attitudes like that, and the same that you have just expressed, are where the problem begins.

save it for the track

Blame the legal systen that is in place. Arrest is the last resort, and there is a presumption FOR bail for the majority of offences.
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It’s a system like that that sees offenders released and not show up at Court.
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20,256 out of 4.8 million is not that many when you look at the numbers.
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I have a very proactive attitude in regard to all crime. If I see it, i do something about it. If I investigate something, i go as far as i am able. If I come across a stolen car, I try and pull it over.
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Most cops do the best they can within the system and within the rules we have.
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My comments about locking the car and taking the keys comes from seeing too many vehicles left unattended, unlocked and in some instances with the keys in them. of course there are also those ‘stolen’ cars that were sorted by the owner themselves. But as has been pointed out below, evidence that can result in SUSTAINED charges is hard to come by with our defence skewed legal system. It’s not called the Criminal Justice system for nothing. Justice for the Criminal.

Al Juraj

Now driving a car a hairline over the speed limit is an even worse crime than stealing it. There isn’t much revenue you can make out of vehicle theft, is there?

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ John Cadogan

Agreed. Totally.

Deane

Pete, something has needed to be done for some time given the way most comments threads on certain subjects degenerate into mud-slinging crud.

IF, and I say IF CarAdvice moderate consistently and thoroughly, I’d call this fair and look forward to it.

I also think John’s response to Old dog was just slightly unnecessary and could have been better saved for other comments on other threads which annoy me (and I hope others) far more.
Tim

Here we go, someone else having a go at the cops. Why anyone would want to join the force is beyond me. Seems very easy to sit behind your keyboard and have a go. What your stats don’t show is the fact that there is now case law that even if fingerprints and DNA is found inside a stolen car, prosecution of the person who owns those prints or that DNA is near impossible because magistrate say that it doesn’t prove that they stole the car, merely that they were in it! And the charge to inside a car without permission is a summary offence that carries a maximum penalty of a fine! There’s no deterrent there for the criminals. Police won’t charge them with stealing the car now unless there’s evidence that clearly suggests that the crook did actually steal the car, like admissions of guilt because when the charges get dismissed, and they do, then the police and ultimately the community have to pay the legal fees for these grubs.

It’s time to start looking a little further then what you think the police are and aren’t doing and perhaps take a peek at why they do things the way they do. It seems that they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t with a cinicle society that refuses to support them and articles like this one don’t help. Shame on you caradvice. Up until now I very much respected this website and enjoyed reading it.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ John Cadogan

Tim,

Sorry you didn’t like the story. I don’t think we kicked the cops so hard here – it’s the pollies and the police senior management that decide the priorities, surely? The police association didn’t say it was case law and legal precedents that are spoiling the clear-up rate; they claimed the force is under strength by about 500 officers, and that those extra front line coppers would make all the difference.

Whether you think this is a ‘shame on us’ issue is a matter for you, Tim, but surely what we did mainly was highlight the problem and open up this forum to debate – possibly even the first step to a solution.

There’s also no question that car theft and break & enter are two of the cops’ absolute lowest priorities. If we’re all happy with that, fine – let’s not engage in the debate. Clearly, however, you know a lot about this, and you’ve contributed to my understanding of the problems the cops face.

Rather than spend any more time kicking us in the slats for what you view as a deficient article, what would you do to fix the problem?

Sincerely,

John Cadogan
Editor

Tim

John,

Thanks for your reply to my comment. While I don’t believe the entire article is a kick in the shins of the NSW Police, comments such as the following are not required, and, in my opinion, have zero basis of truth;

‘Officially, the NSW Police Force claims it investigates every crime. However, it’s clearly giving motor vehicle theft the ‘once over lightly’ treatment. Correction: the ‘can’t be bothered’ treatment.’

If you could provide me with evidence that you have that the police simply can’t be bothered to investigate these crimes, I will gladly print out my comments and eat them.

I base my comments on this article on what I hear from my family which consists of quite a few police officers and my own research and interests. I can tell you that there is definitely case law relating to the fact that fingerprints and DNA inside a vehicle are not enough to convict a crook.

I believe the solution to this problem or at least a start to fixing this problem is for the law makers of our state to allow magistrates to draw assumptions about prints and DNA located in a vehicle in the case that it has no right to be there.

The Police Force is indeed massively understaffed. Please take into consideration that it is near impossible to catch a crook in the act of breaking into or stealing a car when the sheer size of every Local Area Command is considered. It’s a needle in a hay stack scenario. And now that fingerprints and DNA can’t even be relied on to gain a successful prosecution, what other evidence could there be to investigate these crimes to a point that a crook can be charged?

dust on ground

my opinion is the police force attitude in work is the root of all issues – gain LOW public support to the force, GREAT disappointment in dealing with crimes, HUGE corruption inside (if you read the latest news about who got jailed lately from the Force, you will know), NO commitment to the local community but asking for pay rise and disobey laws when driving cop cars and LOW education level inside the force (Ask them do a public speaking, you will soon then find out they can only say RBT, DUI, northbound, southbound all those jargon).

In short, if the force are helping the community and are performing in tackling crimes, all of us will give you the support if you lack of funds and staff. It is a no-brainer reaction.

Think about this, why people in the States, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc support and proud of their Police Force? and whereas in Australia, NSW particularly, people HATE them.

I am sure you understand the reason why! (Regardless of whether you are going to join the force or got family and friends working in the force and please FACE IT!)

I can even give you the answer if you don’t bother to read the first line of the paragraph – ATTITUDE!

Pete

I originally posted the below comment which was removed within half a day. Out of curiosity, after it was removed I posted it on six other articles within CarAdvice and all bar one were removed within minutes.

Obviously moderation needs to occur. But if readers aren’t able to comment on moderation and editors are, it looks a little heavy handed.

As for this article, it does – very strongly – come across as an attack on police. I’ll also wager that that Mr. Cadogan’s knowledge of policing is extremely low. As a result, it cones across as sensationalist: something to fill in the gaps on a slow news day, probably. The fact that Mr. Cadogan works for Today Tonight only reinforces that opinion; TT is known for sensationalist stories that keeps people watching for ad revenue.

Sensationalist stories and then deleting comments that remark on heavy-handed moderation. Not exactly Australian values – perhaps more facist. Or is that too sensationalist a term?

…and here’s that earlier post:

Ahhh, moderating comments that John Cadogan / Car advice don’t find quite amenable. Well, that’s me out. If you can’t foster intelligent debate, then we’ll find somewhere that provides it.

Readers take note: if your opinion differs from the editor, you’ll find that it will either be removed or modified, Big Brother style.

Long live freedom of speech.

laurie

Well your right Pete,some of my posts were removed because I said something that CA did not like mostly about car manufactures that advertise on this site.Fair enough its CA right to but as a curtsey they could have emailed me and pointed my error out to me.If we are not here then all the ads on CA will attract zero viewing from lost people moving away from this site.

http://Frosty Hicks

I find this amusing, as many trolls can post dribble and personally attack other opinionated posters. Not debate but personally attack, whilst most would have seen me undertake debates with some of the lower IQ’ed and/or trollers – I usually try to stick on topic and in debate, no need to bring personal question or mud-slinging per say.

That said, go to any site that does allow opinions, and those differ from egotistical ‘authors’ and ‘reporters’, and lets face it, they are a very sensitive bunch – your comment will disappear.

Australian ‘media’ does not exist, it is merely tabloids and biased dribble to panic the masses and sensationalise any topic for ratings.

Enough of that though, my post in response to article below.

OldShagger

“TT is known for sensationalist stories that keeps people watching for ad revenue.”

Ain’t that the truth, it also appeals to the lowest common denominator and it seems they recycle their stories regularly eg. Rip Off merchants, shonky mechanics, push up bras (havent seen that story for a while) the list goes on…………….

http://Frosty Hicks

Considering the cops these days are merely tools to be used for revenue raising, this doesn’t surprise me.
sam

So what if hes having a go at the police. The police force has lost the respect of the community, because they can barley be called police. They have become tax collectors.
Alborz Fallah

Folks,

The issue of moderation for comments is much larger than most of you realise. It requires a great deal of resources to minitor the tens of thousands of comments we get every week.

We do our best and hope to continuously improve but at times we let certain inappropriate comments slip past without our knowledge, and we are working to improve that.
Lachlan

Maybe a different approach to the car theft problem would be to look at the technological aspects of the situation in addition the human element.

For example, when we look at ways of reducing road trauma, we look at driver training and enforcement of the road rules, but we also look at technical innovations like seatbelts, airbags, ABS, stability control etc.

So as well as thinking about enforcement for car thieves, let’s also look at improved security systems on cars.

Immobilisers are good, but many car thieves have found ways of overriding them, so maybe it’s time for other measures like pin code identification (already on some commonly-stolen cars like WRXs) and/or face/fingerprint recognition technology.
Jacob

Each time my car or factory has been broken into, they cops come, rum their CSI dust over things to make it look like they care and then that’s the end of it. It is like a token gesture to appease us.

We need to have a proactive police force who set up stings and lure the car thieves in. Make it so that the thieves are scared to steal a car. The polies keep talking about getting tough on crime. I don’t want them to get tough. Tough = castration, chopping off a hand etc. I just want justice.
OldShagger

Hi John,

Is it any wonder the NSW Police say they are understaffed.
Have you ever heard Police Media reports on the Radio ?

Why do they need Constable so and so to do this job.

Wouldn’t they be better off employing civilians to do a lot of their tasks ?