A resident reported having number plates stolen from his vehicle. It was reported to the Police. Set out below is the response I received from the Neighbourhood Policing Team and the Inspector:
"This is a crime I do see from time to time across all of the seven wards I compile crime stats for. I have not seen any trend to it. Theft of number plates can be avoided by fitting anti-theft screws, which can be found online.
The most important part is that the resident has reported the theft, so that if the plate is used for any illegal activity, enquiries will show the plate as stolen."
The Inspector has added:
"They may also be stolen to order, for example if someone has access to a stolen BMW X5 and they steal clean plates from a legit BMW X5, it means the stolen vehicle will avoid detection for a while."
