Registration on day one of the conference, Wednesday 12th June at the Henry Ford College, Loughborough University in Leicestershire, opens at 09.30am.

The conference opening address is by Chief Inspector Stephen Potter of the Leicestershire Police followed by presentations during the day from vehicle crime reduction experts.  The first day ends with drinks and the opportunity to netword at the  Burleigh Court Hotel.

The second day of the conference, on Thursday 13th June, opens with more words from our sponsors and the announcement of our awards: the Keith English Award – the Peter Leigh Plant Award -the IAATI President’s Award – and finally, the Alan Taylor Award.

Finishing off the conference will see continued presentations and the closing address by the  Outgoing / Incoming IAATI UK Branch Presidents.  All of which promises to make this year’s conference another success.

Download the conference agenda – pdf – 174kb – Click Here

Full conference details – Click Here

We frequently receive requests for help from members dealing with ongoing investigations and enquiries into theft, fraud, vehicle examination and of late manufacturing, after market products and insurance.

With that in mind we thought that posting technical information, relevant news items, police operations, stories and anecdotes might be interesting when placed in this section.

We hope you agree.

As you might imagine our members collective expertise plus a wealth of accumulative knowledge is extensive and we would like to think we are all able to either answer or disseminate any requests for assistance we receive.

If not we have contacts who wiil be able to assist or at least offer the protocol necessary to obtain it.

You will see by reading ‘Kens Korner’ the type of information we have already processed and if you feel you can answer, contribute, pose a question or you just need information then you are always welcome to post it here.

Ken German

Kens Korner

You will find Kens Korner, as an IAATI UK member on the members forum, which as the name suggests is for IAATI UK members.

Already an IAATI UK MEMBER – Log In or Register – Click Here

Find out about IAATI UK membership – Click Here

The International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) UK branch acknowledges that safety and security is of the utmost importance to vehicle manufacturers, and that vehicles are engineered to meet all European standards as well as, for the UK, applicable Thatcham standards for theft of and theft from vehicle protection.

The use of third party diagnostic tools to influence the operation of on board vehicle computer systems and circumvent manufacturers security protocols within the legitimate garage trade has led to these tools being available to thieves either by direct purchase from suppliers in the UK or via the Internet and of course by stealing such tools from legitimate garages.

Manufacturers of vehicles are required to have an OBD II (On Board Diagnostics) port in an accessible position within the vehicle interior by law.

Manufacturers are also required by law to provide vehicle repair information and the ability to purchase approved diagnostic computer equipment to independent garages and repairers exactly as they would their own franchised dealer networks.

Manufacturers approved systems typically connect to the manufacturers’ mainframe computer network such that secure access to the vehicle is guaranteed.

Tools intended for the legitimate garage trade would not pose a risk to vehicle theft if the supply and use of such tools was regulated and audited.

IAATI UK would like to see restrictions imposed on the sale of vehicle entry and mobilisation equipment such that those selling into the “trade” are required to follow strict rules.

Likewise purchase of such equipment should be restricted to bona fide persons (vetted members of professional trade bodies such as the Retail Motor Industry Federation and vetted members of professional bodies).

IAATI UK is committed to lending its expertise and wealth of knowledge to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the Police and Thatcham to develop preventative measures across the vehicle industry.

Simon J W Hurr

President, IAATI UK

www.iaati.org.uk

Contacts for further information:

David Northey (Secretary, IAATI UK) 07768 020433

Dr Kenneth German (Press officer, IAATI UK) 07899 060457

Motor cars have been on our UK roads since 1894. The advent of the motor car was the dawn of a new era in personal mobility, initially for the lucky minority. With any new technology or fashionable commodity, however, comes an associated underworld of criminality waiting to benefit from dishonestly appropriating or profiteering from the sale or misuse of said stolen commodities.

The first reported car theft was apparently in France in 1896, according to “Des Moines Tribune”[1]. This apparently was a Peugeot owned by none other than an iconic Dutchman – Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt, who went on to become the first ever president of the FIA. His pride and joy was in the garage for repairs when it was stolen by the mechanic!

By 1930, there were 1 million cars on UK roads. The asset-parc for the horseless carriage rustler of the 20thCentury was there for easy-pickings and coincidental with the middle of the Great Depression, acquisitive crime was on the increase from around 1934 and this included ever increasing numbers of stolen vehicles and vehicle-enabled crime. It was in this year that the Home Office started to record vehicle crime as a separate entity.

Security of vehicles was poor even by the standards of the day and this was exacerbated between 1928 and 1932 when in 1928 [2] “the Minister of Transport passed an order making it illegal for drivers in London to lock their cars when parked in public places (The London Traffic (Parking Places) Regulations, 1928)” – due to the parking problems in the 1920’s arising from the influx of new vehicle owners into towns and cities, and the more “secure” (if you can call it that) design of the lockable “closed cab” coach built bodies, police officers had to be able to move any vehicle causing an obstruction to others.

By 1939, nearly 60% of all recorded crime in British courts was in some way linked to car crime.

By 1960, there were 6 million cars registered in the UK and vehicle crime was rife, so much so that the Metropolitan Police, in that year, established its’ Stolen Vehicle Squad [3]. From the steady recorded increase in auto theft since 1934, the 1960’s proved to be a turning point – a sharp increase in recorded vehicle / vehicle enabled crime (an approximate 200% rise over the 1950’s) [4], in keeping with the ever increasing rate at which the citizens of the UK became more mobile as motor cars ownership was more affordable to the “average” family.

The 1970’s saw a further steady rise [4] in auto theft and during this decade the steering lock became a legal requirement. It was in response to the requirements for an anti theft device on all four wheeled vehicles in ECE Regulation 18 and was adopted by the UK in 1972.

The 1980’s saw the birth of the “hot hatch”. Vehicles of this nature became hot property to own (and steal) and the theft of motor vehicles (or joy-riding) rose to epidemic levels. During the period 1980 to 1990, the risk of a vehicle being broken into virtually doubled, with a shocking 24% rise in all recorded vehicle crime between 1989 and 1990 alone [4].

By 1993, the recorded levels of vehicle crime had peaked and were starting to decline. Motor manufacturers had begun to improve car security and establishments such as Thatcham were working with the industry in providing a benchmark for vehicle security performance. This enabled the insured risk to be more adequately assessed and for greater penalties to be imposed upon vehicles not meeting the required standard. Higher risk vehicles such as the Sierra RS Cosworth were being fitted with early “touch key” immobilisers and the theft of such equipped vehicles was now much, much harder without the keys.

Epidemic of Vehicle Crime

The volume vehicle manufacturers responded to the socioeconomic epidemic of vehicle crime and many voluntarily started to fit immobilisers on their mainstream product range, having seen the dramatic reduction in theft of their high performance vehicles.

In the early days (circa 1994/5) of OE standard fit vehicle immobilisers, the technology available to car thieves was limited to pieces of wire with crocodile clips at either end to over-wire the relays used to cut power feeds to the fuel pump, coil (or diesel solenoid) and the starter solenoid.

In order to program a new transponder key, a (usually) red master key was first needed to be cycled in the ignition. Without this red key, the system was unable to learn a new key unless the manufacturers’ proprietary diagnostic tool was connected to the car’s diagnostic socket.

Immobilisers soon (1996 or thereabouts) moved on to “software lock” technology such that there were no solid-state electronics to over wire – unless the correctly coded transponder key was present, the computer program within (to enable the engine to start) would not run hence the fuel pump would not energise, the solenoid would not engage to turn the starter (in some cases, not all), the coil pack would not be energised and the fuel injector “driver” circuits would remain powered-down. The engine would therefore not start and run.

By now the red master key had all but disappeared because rental companies would give out this bright red key, and some unscrupulous individuals would use this to their advantage – have a duplicate key cut at their local high-street key cutting shop, use the red master key to teach it to the vehicle and then follow it on a future hire only to then steal it with the newly programmed key. The master key was replaced in some cases by the need to have two programmed keys present in order to cycle them both in the ignition and then teach a third, fourth etc. up to 8 keys or so.

Manufacturers all had their own proprietary diagnostic computers – usually a basic 486 processor-driven touch screen with a CD drive or floppy disc drive to enable the loading of update discs. Naturally, vehicle manufacturers did not (as they do not today) make their own diagnostics units – they were contracted out to specialist outside companies. Many of these companies started to manufacture their own branded versions of diagnostic machines and this is where the disorder began.

Non-OEM Diagnostic Tools

A plethora of non-OEM diagnostic tools steadily became available – bought by independent garages, locksmiths and, unfortunately, they started to fall into the hands of thieves. Either through unregulated purchase (there were and still are no laws preventing the sale of these items to non-licensed locksmiths / garages), by purchase through classified ads, trade publications etc. usually when an owner upgraded as a newer version with more functionality came out, or a small garage “went-under” and also many were misappropriated in commercial burglaries of garage premises / thefts from locksmiths vans.

Many bespoke diagnostic tools are still in widespread use today and they are so easily obtained – a simple Internet enquiry from a generic email account can result in many suppliers willing to provide such kit with no security checks having taken place, simply covering themselves with a disclaimer requesting that the device is not used by the purchaser for illegal purposes.

Some modern diagnostic tools are simply windows based computer programs running on a laptop through an interface box into the cars’ OBD II (On Board Diagnostics) socket. Manufacturers have had to make such kit available to the aftermarket through the purchase of software licenses (and sometimes security cards / dongles).

With purely software based diagnostic tools came associated another crime – copyright fraud or computer software piracy. The improper use of such equipment has now reached such high levels, it is estimated by the author that less than 15% of all so-called “manufacturers” or OEM diagnostics software in use in the UK are actually genuine and properly licensed. One only has to look on Internet auction websites to see the sheer number of copied diagnostic software discs offered for sale (often described as “a genuine copy of an original”, which by definition cannot be legitimate!). Many so-called professionals have laptop computers crammed with such programs covering a multitude of vehicle makes and use them with reverse engineered (cheap copies of the OEM’s proprietary device) interface modules from the far east. Some go so far as assembling these as kits and selling them on within their trade.

How is the equipment used so easily available? The equipment used in this type of theft is legitimately available to the repair industry, so if needed, the owner can have the key reprogrammed outside of the official dealer network. European law states that vehicle manufacturers must make repair information available so a motorist does not have to visit the vehicle manufacturer’s authorised dealership should they chose not to. To ensure the equipment and information is not accessed for illegal purposes, we must ensure the procedures in place to vet those with access to it are strictly enforced so only those using it for genuine, responsible and legitimate needs gain access.

Of course, the professionals using such kit do not recognise it as an issue – they are the little person trying to make money in competing with the larger franchised dealerships hence are happy to cut corners where they can to reduce their overheads. It is mooted that many of these professionals share software (make unlicensed copies) for their colleagues – such that one person subscribes legitimately to the OEM for the regular updates and then passes them on either for profit, or in exchange for similar updates of another OEM software.

This gung-ho attitude to equipment sourcing has left the door wide open for criminals to abuse the availability of “non OEM” diagnostic tools and software. If the industry professionals using the equipment had all purchased legitimate OEM tools and subscribed (exactly as per the franchised dealerships) to regular updates, there would be little or no market for aftermarket devices.

Some professionals “blame” the OEMs for being too greedy and charging too much money for the equipment. Such equipment, however, is the subject of expensive and time consuming research and development. It requires little research and development, however, to copy something already engineered, hence the lower cost of the aftermarket tools.

If you want to become a window cleaner, you would typically need a van, a set of ladders, buckets, sponges, squeegees and chamois leathers, appropriate insurance and possibly some training. They are associated overheads of the profession. Likewise if you wish to trade as an industry professional in the vehicle repair, remobilisation and diagnostic field then there are associated overheads. If these overheads are too high, then leave well alone for those dedicated professionals who are prepared to operate with the proper equipment, insurance cover and recognised vehicle categories on their driving licenses.

It is often the case that the users of some of the “non OE” equipment do not fully understand its operation and could inadvertently cause damage or harm to other vehicle systems. Manufacturers make their proprietary kit and fully supported training courses available to the aftermarket to avoid exactly these problems. OE kit is engineered to work seamlessly with the vehicles. Anonymous aftermarket kit is untried, untested and unwarranted by the manufacturers and in some cases is known to permanently damage the ECU of one brand of vehicle which then renders it unresponsive to subsequent repair attempts with the OE kit hence a replacement ECU is required offsetting any saving made by the owner in using a non approved repairer in the first place.

The Future

So what does the future hold? Euro 5 and 6 emissions regulations are just around the corner and embedded into these requirements is the mandate for vehicle manufacturers to make their service data (including security access for the teaching of new transponder keys) available to Independent Operators (IO). Failure to do so would mean refusal by the Vehicle Certification Agency to issue type approval confirmation for the emissions control system of the vehicle (thus making it illegal to sell in Europe).

But why embed security data within emissions / service related requirements? Who is asking for such data? The answer to this is quite simple. The requirement was borne out of lobbying by independent repairers throughout Europe, at the European Parliament, claiming that they cannot repair vehicles without having the ability to program new keys to the immobiliser. This was said to be anti-competitive – essentially the IOs were asking for the same treatment and security access as franchised dealerships. These very same independents are the prime patrons of the aftermarket diagnostic tool manufacturers and prolific users of non licensed copies of vehicle manufacturers’ diagnostic software.

Some of the very same organisations represented at the EU5 / EU6 table (supposedly working together with Thatcham, the insurers, roadside repairers and vehicle manufacturers to deliver a secure and workable solution to regulating access to security data) as recently as Guy Fawkes’ weekend in November this year, held a conference in the north-west UK which promoted the use of “bypass” equipment. This kit is designed (or copied / reverse engineered) to enable programming of a new transponder key to most vehicles without the need to use the OE approved (and secure) methods.

One aftermarket tool whose raison d’etre completely perplexes the author is a non OE key-teaching device for a prestige German brand of car. The tool costs in the region of £10,000 yet a legitimate owner can obtain a replacement key from their franchised dealer for £100 and get next-day delivery if ordered before 2pm. Surely the only real market for such tools is in the criminal underworld – the business case to invest in said machine requires the equivalent of 100 keys to be programmed to pay for itself, let alone generate profit.

What has become apparent to the author is that there are a huge number of people out there on a daily basis working on vehicles to unlock them when keys are lost / locked inside, repair locks or replace keys, add transponder keys to the immobiliser etc. who simply only know how to follow the prompts on the screen of their diagnostic tool, and who do not understand (or care about) the consequences in the long term of unrecognised third party tools being used to interface with vehicles – consider, for instance, the irreversible damage caused to one manufacturers’ ECU by using a bypass method rather than the (also available to IOs) approved system.

• Who absorbs the warranty cost when it all goes pear-shaped?
• The IO?
• The tool maker?
• The unsuspecting customer?
• Or is this passed back to the vehicle manufacturer to investigate at significant cost?

What about the associated risks of theft due to the aftermarket tools not interfacing with the security databases and checks put in place by vehicle manufacturers?

It seems that many of these so-called vehicle remobilisation professionals are wanting the same levels of access as main franchised dealerships but without the associated overheads – the right (and licensed) equipment and adequate accredited training – back to the ladders, buckets, sponges, squeegees and chamois leathers again. If the investment and operational overheads to work exactly as the franchised networks do is too much, then you cannot afford to set up or remain in the business. Pick a new career.

Links & Information

[1] www.answerbag.com

[2] TACKLING CAR CRIME: the nature and extent of the problem (Webb & Laycock) CRIME PREVENTION UNIT PAPER NO. 32, HOME OFFICE (1992) pg.1 – pdf – Click Here

[3] History of Metropolitan Police – Click Here

[4] ] calculated from figures published in TACKLING CAR CRIME: the nature and extent of the problem (Webb & Laycock) CRIME PREVENTION UNIT PAPER NO. 32, HOME OFFICE (1992) pg.4 – pdf – Click Here

BMW Owners Hit by Hi-Tech Theft

On the 12th September 2012 the BBC report on their website regarding a device that is for sale on the internet which allows thieves to steal BMWs and other high-end cars without the need for the owner’s keys.

Source – BBC News: “In some parts of the country police have been leafleting BMW owners, warning them of the possibility of this kind of theft.

Responding to the investigation BMW said: “We are already in the process of enhancing the protection of pre-September 2011 X5 and X6 models and have been contacting owners and carrying out the necessary work accordingly.

“None of our latest models – new 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series and 7 Series – nor any other BMW built after September 2011 can be stolen using the method highlighted.”

For the report on the BBC News website – Click Here

Watchdog

The BBC Watchdog programme carries the full report in their programme on the evening of the 12th September.

Source: BBC News – BBC Watchdog website: “Steven Singh opened his door and noticed that his car wasn’t there, apart from some shattered glass on the floor. His BMW M6 convertible had been stolen.

After paying so much, he thought he’d taken all the necessary safety precautions and had both the keys in his possession. Exasperated, he told us,“you spend £40,000, £50,000 on a vehicle and someone can come and take your car without a key. It’s just ludicrous”

For the report on the BBC Watchdog website – Click Here

According to the PRADO website the public register is, “a multi-lingual site for disseminating information on security features of authentic identity and travel documents to the public.”

The PRADO website contains images and summary information on some of the most commonly used documents of the Member States of
the European Union and also of some third countries. The PRADO website is available in 22 official languages of the EU.

PRADO is regularly updated with information taken from the steadily growing FADO database.

• Each document is validated for correctness by document experts all over Europe.

• High quality translations are performed by specialised translators.

FADO (False and Authentic Documents Online) is a classified restricted system for the exchange of information between document experts on travel and identity documents. Part of the information on authentic documents contained in FADO is released to the public via the PRADO system.

Target audience:

General public, including governmental and non-governmental organisations, e.g.:

Employers

Post services

Banks, credit authorities

Security and guarding companies

Vehicle hire agencies, …

As PRADO is open to the public it also now available for employers to check the features of passport and identity documents from all European Union countries, which is mentioned by the UK Border Agency.

Advice

The advice from PRADO when checking the security features of documents is: FEEL, LOOK, TILT!

Information

PRADO is hosted by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (GSC), General Directorate for Justice and Home Affairs (DG D).

The information contained therein is selected and provided by the Member States of the European Union, Iceland and Norway. The steering committee in the GSC is the Working Party on Frontiers in the formation of False Documents Experts.

PRADO Leaflet – pdf 617kb - Click Here

PRADO website: Click Here

In 2013 experts from all over the world will exchange views on the main developments in planning the future at this global event for IAATI International in Italy.

From all over the world, not only the professionals of the Police Services from five continents, but also “private” professionals of diverse experience with a strong working knowledge in the field, will come to Rimini, on the Adriatic coast.

In order to deal with issues of the criminal phenomenon of vehicle crime, in the context of what has become a traditional event: Annual IAATI Seminar (International Association of Auto Theft Investigators).

Learn about the major new legislation and technology to support investigative activities, with a possibility to attend specialised courses on the various thematic issues of their interest, and, why not… renew old and establish new national and international friendships, internally and externally of our association, with investigators from all continents in the spirit of constructive dialogue among Police Services and private sector who have been involved in this field for years.

In this non stop five-day activity, almost one hundred speakers of leading renowned experts and highly qualified representatives of Police Services, but also companies and associations in the field, will alternate in the various sessions, and focussed courses, offering a very rich programme, absolutely not to be missed!

A specially equipped area will host the companies in the field that will be exhibiting, what’s innovative and advanced in the area of the fight against crime related to vehicle theft, and they will also through practical demonstrations revive the most comprehensive review of technologies and products in the sector.

After the highly positive experience of Castrocaro Seminar in 2005, the Italian IAATI team is back in business…

 Our goal is to prepare an interesting, stimulating and high professional training Seminar, which is at the same time a moment of meeting and strong social cohesion among all experts in the field that in this five Italian days you will be able to appreciate our hospitality and enjoy a fun stay, leaving with a positive memory of Seminar and our beautiful country.

The 61st edition of the Annual IAATI International Training Seminar, from 29th of September to 4th of October 2013.

WE ARE EXPECTING YOU…

More Information – Click Here

WHAT IS IAATI

The International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) was formed in 1952 in the United States of America, in order to improve communication and coordination among the growing family of professional auto theft investigators.

Today, IAATI is represented by 3466 members from 35 countries and includes representatives from law enforcement agencies, private investigators, insurance companies, members of the vehicle registration offices, producers and vehicle manufacturers, and all the others with the legitimate interests in combating the crime phenomenon of global significance related to fight against vehicle crime.

Currently, with its branches in Europe, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa and South America, it is the most important and the most qualified association in the field, capable of assisting its members all over the world.

The European Branch of IAATI will be holding their 2012 Training Seminar in Bratislava, Slovakia from the evening of 26th September 2012 until Friday 28th September 2012.

The Seminar with a full program and workshop will be held at the Crowne Plaza, Bratislava.

The Full Program and a Workshop Overview has now been released.

Seminar Booking – Fees are:

IAATI Members and Law Enforcement – € 200 for the early birds (booking plus payment before 15th July) and

250 (before 15 August) or 300 (after 15 August).

Non IAATI Members and Non Law Enforcement – € 300 for the early birds (booking plus payment before 15th July) and

350 (before 15 August) or 400 (after 15 August).

So please make your booking A.S.A.P.

Hotel

The seminar will be held in Crown Plaza hotel, Bratislava.

The hotel is situated right next to the beautiful historic city.

Please see the link to the E-brochure, you can find very useful information there:

Click Here

www.crowne-plaza.sk

Full details for booking the seminar, hotels, flights, additional information, are all on the IAATI Europe website.

You can also download the description of the proposed workshops for the 2012 IAATI European Branch Training Seminar, the  full program for the 2012 IAATI European Branch Training Seminar.

2012 IAATI European Branch Training Seminar – Click Here

Vehicle theft is rising and soon the UK might not be able to fight it. SBD report from the IAATI UK conference with a warning for the future…

The UK Chapter of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators held its 2012 National Vehicle Crime Conference at the Jaguar Cars Visitors Centre, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham on the 23rd and 24th of May and SBD were one of the attendees.

There were a mixture of speakers from both public and private sectors presenting information on a variety of topics all related to the theft and investigation of vehicle crime. Subjects included;

• Organised vehicle theft;
• Theft of plant and agricultural machinery;
• Organised export of stolen vehicles and parts;
• Insurance fraud;
• Money laundering;
• Vehicle identification initiatives;
• Specific police operations.

This event is an important opportunity for people involved in the prevention of vehicle crime to meet, discuss issues and to make new contacts.

One of the highlights of the conference was an address by Lord Henley, the Government Minister Responsible for Crime Prevention who gave the Home Office perspective on vehicle crime. His address focused on;

Crime as an overall;

• The changes that are being made to tackle local crime issues rather than Government setting the objectives;
• The role the National Crime Agency (NCA) will undertake when they replace SOCA from early 2013.

The concentration on local issues has the potential to cause problems when it comes to crimes that straddle two or three police forces – each of which may have different priorities. It is also difficult to see how forces focussed on local issues will be able to work with the NCA which will have a much wider view of crime, especially with regards to data collection, sharing of intelligence and partnerships with other industry or private companies.

In terms of vehicle crime he said that the current Government priority is to reduce expenditure and control the national budget deficit, confirming part of this policy would be withdrawing the Home Office funding to the AVCIS, which will close by the end of the year.

Disappointingly there was no mention by the Minister of organised vehicle theft being part of the NCA’s remit or whether the national intelligence gathering role AVCIS did would be taken on by them.

He finished by saying that organised crime is estimated to cost the UK £20-£40 billion every year and that there are around 7,000 OCG’s operating in the country involved in various activities including drugs, cyber-crime and people trafficking.

It was ironic that Lord Henley’s speech came just after the UK President of IAATI had presented an award to DCI Mark Hooper – head of AVCIS, in recognition of the good work that he and his unit has done in the tackling organised vehicle theft nationally.

The lack of recognition by the Government that vehicle crime is still an issue in the UK is a severe blow to the people involved in the fight against organised vehicle theft, especially when the criminal intention is often to raise funds for other activities. More worrying is that this is happening at a time when areas of Europe including parts of the UK are reporting an increase in the numbers of vehicles being stolen.

As the conference discussed, organised vehicle theft, money laundering through vehicle crime and insurance fraud are already increasingly serious issues in the UK. However, despite a room full of those who wish to fight the criminals, it seems that with the current support and funding focussed elsewhere the greatest opportunities are being handed to the thieves themselves.

To find out more about the latest situation in the UK and across the rest of Europe, contact SBD at security@sbd.co.uk or call 01908 305105.

SBD website – www.sbd.co.uk

The presentations from police and the private sector were first class.

The Master of Ceremonies, David Ryan opened the conference, followed by a welcome speech from John Reading of Jaguar Land Rover.

Simon Hurr President of IAATI UK and Joe Brosius President of IAATI International welcomed the participants to the conference.

The presentations given by law enforcement officers included DS Ian Orton from West Midlands Police who demonstrated the worth of the ANPR as an important tool to catch organised criminals.

Finbarr Garland from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Garda Siochana, Republic of Ireland provided an insight into the issues of organised vehicle crime in his country with its ramifications such as the export of plant machinery as well as targeting ATM machines with plant machinery. He explained how important cross border cooperation with other European countries can be to bring these criminals to justice.

DCI David Wood from the City of London Police gave a very enlightening presentation about Insurance fraud.

DCI Mark Hooper gave an overview of the important work that the ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service has carried out and explained to the audience trends and developments in technology used by organised criminals to steal cars, vans and goods from trucks.

DCI Hooper identified eight key threats as well as linking criminals to terrorism.  The future of AVCIS is currently under review and a decision is expected from ACPO next month.

DCI Hooper’s presentation was followed by Lord Henley, Home Office Minister who summarised the latest government policies for policing on behalf of the Secretary of State.

DS Sarah Sleaford of the Leicester Police gave a presentation about Operation Chisel, an operation on containers being shipped out of the ports.

The South East Regional Task Force carried out examinations of suspect containers, and found stolen motor vehicles and a lot of gas containers being shipped out of the country.

The other presentations covered a wide range of topics, from vehicle marking to telematics, data collection and other tools used in the fight against vehicle crime.

On the second day of Conference the awards were presented.

Conference Awards

Keith English Award

The Keith English Award went to The Essex Police, Thurrock Council and VOSA for Operation Taxi.

This award is sponsored by Selectamark and our thanks go to Selectamark for their continual support of IAATI UK.

Peter Leigh Plant Award

The Peter Leigh Plant Award was presented to the Devon and Cornwall Police for Operation Sebula, this operation Op SEBULA targeted a criminal who ran a Plant Business in Cornwall.

The criminal was given a sentence of 9 and a half years, and a confiscation order for £2.25 million has been made.

IAATI UK President’s Award

The IAATI UK President’s Award was given to AVCIS for their outstanding contribution in fighting vehicle crime.

The Presidents Award as received by DCI Mark Hooper.

.

Alan Taylor Award

The Alan Taylor Award was presented to the Metropolitan Police for Operation Temple Viper.

Thanks

Our sincere thanks to sponsors: Ambersett, Cobra and Retainagroup.

Thanks also to Simon Hodgson our photographer.

View Photos from From The Conference – Click Here

Conference Sponsors

www.ambersett.com

www.cobravehiclesecurity.co.uk

www.retainagroup.com

Conference Exhibitors

Retainagroup www.retainagroup.com	Cobra UK Limited www.cobravehiclesecurity.co.uk	Datatag www.datatag.co.uk	RedWeb www.redwebsecurity.com
CMA www.cma.uk.com	Sure-Track Europe Limited www.sure-track.co.uk	Protectavan www.protectavan.co.uk	CDL Click Here
Hafren Security Fasteners www.hafrenfasteners.com

‘A Partnership Approach to Vehicle Crime’

We are seeking expressions of interest from people wishing to attend one of these courses.

Both of these courses are very special and this is the first time that the European Branch has offered these types of In-Depth training courses.

The planned courses, which would take place in Bratislava on the 2 days before the actual IAATI EB seminar, are

1) Identification of heavy equipment (both theory and practical)

Trainer: Nick Mayell, TER, UK,

The attendees will obtain a certificate.

2) Documents examination (both theory and practice)

Trainer: Raffaele Chianca, Traffic Police Rimini, Italy – Xperta, Italy.

The attendees will obtain a certificate and a USB stick with Mr. Chianca´s presentation key information.

This is a unique opportunity for members who have an interest in either of these subjects to learn more from renowned experts in these specialist fields. The courses will be completely different to those run during previous seminars. They will be detailed, both theory in the class room and practical ‘hands on’.

Also, attendees will benefit further by these courses being run in such a small group.

The problem is that whilst IAATI EB are prepared to offer some subsidy to run these courses for the benefit of the membership we still need to confirm that we have a minimum number of attendees for each course.

The minimum number for each course would be 15 with a maximum of 20.

Course fees should be between 150 and 200 Euros plus accommodation (75 euros per night).

Please note that this is in addition to the cost of attending the seminar.

This is an opportunity not to be missed and I would urge anyone interested, and there must be many of our members who have an interest in these 2 subjects and wish to increase their knowledge of them, to contact either Renato Schipani skipius@libero.it or myself at bhancock@iaati.org immediately.

Remember we just need expressions of interests at this time, but please note that we only have until the end of this month to make a decision on whether to run these course or not.

If we are able to run these courses and they are successful we will organise other In Depth Training courses on other subjects in the future.

Warm regards

Barry Hancock

President – IAATI, European Branch

Email: bhancock@iaati.org

Office: +44 1273 203420

Mobile + 44 7768 363310

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