December 10, 2021 - 949 views
During this festive season, North Wales Police is supporting a national campaign to combat keyless car theft.
This type of theft occurs when criminals manage to replicate the signal sent out by car fobs which allow drivers to access their cars without physically putting keys in the door.
National figures show that incidents involving keyless thefts are rising across the country and Police have 12 pieces of advice entitled ‘12 Days of Keyless’ to limit the crime affecting residents.
In the lead up to Christmas, these tips will be promoted daily across the Force’s social media channels to build awareness around all aspects of vehicle security.
Detective Chief Inspector Alun Oldfield will lead on the campaign and has encouraged the public to be vigilant over the festive period.
He said: "My plea over the Christmas period is for all owners of motor vehicles to be conscious of the contents within their vehicles, and where they are leaving these vehicles over Christmas.
"Together, with the assistance of other NPCC national leads on vehicle crime, we've put together a series of 12 tips for the 12 days of Christmas along the lines of vehicle crime.
“Each day over the next 12-day period on social media we will release further tips on how we want you to look after your vehicles, giving you advice on the vehicles that are most likely to be stolen and the type of items we're keeping in vehicles at this time of year.
"The last thing that anybody wants is to have any of their children's Christmas presents stolen from their vehicles over the festive period.
"What we see nationally is that about 40 per cent of all stolen vehicles not being recovered at all. Vehicles are being broken down into component parts or are being shipped off abroad to different countries.
“We're trying to share the intelligence, information and knowledge that we have to try to prevent any further crime and upset over the festive period."
12 Days of Keyless tips:
1. Signal Suppression Pouch/Box
Invest in a Faraday Pouch which is a practical way of managing the signal(s) sent out by the vehicle’s key fob. Conduct diligent research into the quality of the product you are looking to buy. Consider the materials any pouch/box is made from and the manufacturing processes that have gone into making it. Are you trusting the security of a high value vehicle to a product that only costs a few pounds?
2. Spare Keys
Do you know where your spare key-fobs are? How many spare keys do you have for your keyless vehicles? When not in use, consider removing the battery from the spare keys so that there are fewer examples of the same key frequency available for the keyless car thieves to capture.
3. Location of keys when not in use
Think where you leave your keys when at home. Whilst not fool-proof, the more central the keys are placed within a home environment, the better. Do not leave keys close to the front door however practical it may be.
4. Consult your vehicle’s manufacturer
Customers are encouraged to speak to their vehicle’s manufacturer about preventative advice including changing the vehicle’s security and convenience settings. Sometimes convenience functions can be disabled.
5. Physical Equipment Locks /Aftermarket Security Devices
Invest in a steering wheel lock, gear level lock or a pedal box. The first two are self-explanatory and are more of a traditional means to deter thieves - they offer a degree of protection due to the time required by the thief to disable them.
A pedal box is a bright yellow metal box that is made to fit your car, wrapping around the foot pedals. It has a lock on the box and prevents the pedals from being accessed. Being yellow it can be easily seen and may ward off any potential thieves early. Heavy, power tools which are noisy would need to be used which would discourage most thieves from attempting to steal the vehicle.
6. Home CCTV
Do you have CCTV covering your property and vehicle(s)? CCTV can be a great deterrent to potential criminals as well as offering you peace of mind. It can also help the police with any investigations they conduct.
7. Garages
If you have a garage, is there space to store your keyless vehicle inside it? If so, this will not only hide it from view but it will also act as a further barrier to thieves.
8. Bollards / Driveway Gates
Both can be effective in offering a physical barrier to deter potential thieves. If you have them fitted, do you use them and do you lock them? Consider your locking options with the gates you have and lock them at night-time.
9. Non-keyless vehicles
These can be positioned on the driveway either in front of or behind a keyless vehicle, so as to make it more difficult to steal and thus reducing the chances thieves will target your keyless vehicle.
10. Insurance Cover
Do you have the appropriate insurance policy to cover your losses in the event that your car is stolen?
11. Vehicle Tracking devices
Does your vehicle have a tracking device fitted? If stolen, the chances of the vehicle being recovered improve greatly when one is fitted.
12. Valuables inside vehicles
When a vehicle is stolen, whatever is left inside it is also stolen too. Please do not leave valuables in your car overnight unnecessarily.
