Specialist police staff part of curbing stolen vehicles in Northland

Northland police have received more than 6000 reports of stolen vehicles in the past five years. Photo / 123rf

The volume of vehicles stolen in Northland is no secret, but perhaps lesser known is the number recovered by police and the work going into curbing the problem.

Data provided by Police Minister Ginny Andersen in response to a written Parliamentary question showed in the past five years up to 2022, Northland police received 6217 reports of stolen vehicles.

Of those, around 67 per cent were recovered. When looking at each individual year, officers appeared to have the most success in 2022 and 2021, when around 69 per cent were found - up from roughly 63 per cent in 2020 and 64 per cent in 2019.

Northland District prevention manager Inspector Dean Robinson said members of the public were the main source of information about where cars have been left. After a report, police usually recover the stolen vehicle within 30 minutes.

“An early call gives us the opportunity, depending on our priorities at the time, to get to the suspicious vehicle or people and prevent them from committing a crime, and get the car back to its owner.”

Robinson said vehicles are often taken for joy rides or to commit a crime like a ram-raid before being dumped - and they often get damaged.

“The high recovery rate and our experience shows that most stolen vehicles are not being taken to be kept.”

Robinson said at times, motorbikes and 4x4s are targeted and “rebirthed” - altered or disguised to keep or sell.

He warned buyers to be aware if a vehicle sale seemed too good to be true.

“We also recommend doing due diligence to confirm the authenticity of the vehicle and the seller when looking to purchase a vehicle through various social media channels ...”

Robinson said police were having “good success” with people installing tracking devices in items like quads, diggers and rare cars.

The more you can show that your vehicle has a tracking device or an immobiliser - which is an electronic device that prevents a vehicle from starting unless the correct key or key fob is used - the better.

Those features help make the vehicle less attractive to potential thieves, Robinson indicated.

But when a vehicle is stolen and later recovered, police have specialist staff responsible for forensically examining them.

Robinson said their focus is on capturing evidence that helps identify those responsible for stealing vehicles or travelling in them as passengers.

“The forensic examination varies in the examination time, so we sometimes need to store the vehicles for a few days to conduct the [examination].”

But to help stop theft in the first place, police encourage motorists to take valuables out of the vehicle; make it obvious the car is alarmed or under surveillance; and park in a spot with good all-round visibility from others in the street or in a locked garage.

“This all helps to remove opportunity,” Robinson said.

Anyone whose suspicions are raised about a vehicle should note down the registration number and ring police.

Robinson described a vehicle that has suddenly turned up on your road or street and looks out of place as being one red flag.