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Catching the car thieves

Car crime continues to be a major problem for the police, particularly in certain "hotspots" so it is encouraging to see that mobile CCTV systems are being used at the heart of new measures to catch unsuspecting criminals red-handed.

The latest technique involves the parking-up of covert unmarked cars in areas where car theft is prevalent.  The real beauty of this solution is that from the outside the unmarked vehicle looks like any other car so criminals are caught completely unawares.  Unlike any normal vehicle there is satellite tracking, audio and image recording and the capability for officers to remotely immobilise the car, lock the culprits inside and inform them that they are about to be arrested.

Vital images of the culprits can even be recorded through concealed in-car CCTV cameras mounted in the dashboard for evidential purposes and the mobile CCTV system can be quickly moved to another vehicle type to tie-in with those being targeted by the criminals.

Experience to date shows that this new covert weapon in the police armory is helping to catch hardened offenders and, crucially, the associated publicity is deterring opportunists in urban areas where to date other measures have failed.