SubscribePolice failure to take action allows criminals detected by Tag Guard to continue plant theft near Doncaster.
Tag Guard Systems provides specialised construction site security equipment and security services and ‘top of the range’ tracking systems for construction plant and machinery. In a very recent case a digger belonging to Gelder Construction in Lincoln was stolen over a weekend.
The crime was detected by Tag Guard’s site security system and CCTV footage was recorded. The tracking system alerted the control centre to the removal of the digger from site and provided the location of where it was taken to and the time it arrived.
Gelder Construction staff went to the site near Doncaster where the digger had been taken. The site is a field at the rear of a dilapidated council estate with many travellers’ caravans parked. The Gelder employee called for police to attend. He then waited for 1.5 hours for them to arrive.
In that time he saw the Gelder Construction trailer, that had also been stolen and used to transport the digger, return to the site with a Bobcat digger belonging to a hire company – presumably also stolen. A second item of plant was also delivered to the site in the same time period.
On arrival the police presence consisted of a male constable and an accompanying female officer. Having had the situation explained to them the police decided that this was a ‘no go’ area. They were unwilling to venture onto the site due to threats from a large number of intimidating men adopting a threatening and aggressive attitude.
During this time another employee of Gelder Construction identified two digger buckets in a garden in the next street with the name Gelder and the company's postcode welded and visible on their sides. He was approached by six men who adopted a very threatening manner. He left and returned shortly afterwards with the police but by that time the buckets had gone.
The Gelder trailer was then spotted leaving the site and the Gelder staff followed it but eventually lost contact around Doncaster. By the time the towing vehicle arrived back at the site the trailer had been dropped somewhere else. This was clearly a well rehearsed operation. Tag Guard’s Locator tracking system was then also decommissioned by the thieves so that further tracking of the digger became impossible.
The police seem unable to take any action against this sort of crime. They commented to the Gelder Construction staff that this is a well-known no-go area but that the police and the authorities take no action to prevent the continued professional criminal activity.
A previous theft 2 weeks earlier had been organised from the same Gelder Construction site and the similarities in the style of the theft were striking. Whilst it cannot be proved definitively that the previous crime was organised by the same gang is very probable that this was the case. This type of crime continues. It is organised by highly professional gangs and yet the police seem unable to take effective action. Why?
Tag Guard Systems is at the forefront of fighting crime in the construction industry and has the coveted Thatcham Category 5 approval for its LOCATOR tracking system. It is involved throughout the UK and increasingly in Holland, Denmark Scandinavia and the European mainland where the systems and services it offers are established as the market leaders.
Much has been said by the Home Office and the various bodies involved in trying to prevent this sort of criminal activity. Yet here is a clear case worthy of investigation and the police seem to lack the means or the will to take action to close down a highly professional gang.
The stated intentions of the Plant Theft Action Group and the Home Office is to take a strong line on prevention of organised crime of this type. This case suggests that the policy is not being put into practice effectively. The work of security companies, customers and law enforcement agencies are devalued if clear opportunities to stamp down on crime are not taken.