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Most crimes, including car theft, dropped significantly at the start of the pandemic, and remained lower than usual over the course of the last year. Provisional figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show a 3.1 percent increase between May 2021 and June 2021 in vehicle crime overall.
She said: “Car theft is a serious crime that causes significant distress and upset to owners and police are putting considerable resources into tackling it and bringing those responsible to justice.
“Whilst the rapid development of technology has dramatically improved the experience of drivers it has also allowed criminals to exploit weaknesses in electronic security.
“We are working closely with car manufacturers to help them design out crime by sharing intelligence and equipment seized from criminals.
“We are already making substantial progress in this regard.
Of the 1,864 car thefts recorded by Avon and Somerset Police in the last year just 94 resulted in the suspect being taken to court – five percent of the total.
In 1,258 cases the investigation was dropped because no suspect was identified, while 374 saw it dropped because of difficulties with evidence.
Along with 21 instances where further investigation or prosecution was not deemed in the public interest or was prevented.
This means 89 percent of cases saw car thieves get away with the crime altogether.
Data from Tracker found that keyless car theft had increased in 2020, standing at a massive 93 percent.
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