Police have reported a spike in car thefts in Dundee this year as officers try to deal with “reckless” pursuits across the city.
There were 271 crimes involving theft of — or theft from — a vehicle (including attempts) across Dundee between April and June — a 130% rise compared to 118 in the same period last year.
The figures come from a report due to go before Dundee City Council’s community safety and public protection committee on Monday.
Quarterly policing report
In the report, Chief Superintendent Phil Davison also highlights that public safety is being put at risk by car pursuits.
He pinpoints a pattern of offending over several weeks where house break-ins were targeted towards commercial garages and premises with keys and their associated vehicles stolen.
This has been a “significant driver” of the spike in thefts, he stated.
The quarterly policing review comes after a number of videos posted on social media platform TikTok during the summer show joyriders in Dundee taunting police officers during car chases.
A senior officer at Tayside Road Policing Unit previously said this is an issue “confined to Dundee” as opposed to elsewhere in Tayside and that he was “dumbfounded” by the videos “glorifying” crime.
‘Pattern of offending’
Although the report says the detection rate for car theft in Dundee is above the national average, a significant number of the crimes — 144 — “remain under investigation”.
Ch Supt Davison said: “It should be noted that a degree of recklessness has been demonstrated by these offenders when efforts to stop vehicles have been attempted.
“Due to concerns around escalating danger to the public, officers are required to balance the opportunity to deliver immediate enforcement action against the more critical priority of preserving public safety.”
He added: “A relatively small number of offenders have been identified in respect of these crimes series with robust enforcement action taken to disrupt the crimes series and place offenders before the court.
“A number of these offenders remain on bail pending trial, meaning a resurgence of acquisitive crime activity is likely.”
The Ch Supt said additional to the key thefts are “more sporadic and less well planned” crimes “often in circumstances where higher value items were left in open view.”
‘A small number of offenders’
He added: “The challenges in this area continue to be repeat offenders carrying out multiple offences, which are facilitated by the use of stolen vehicles.”
Additional to car theft the city council committee will discuss and hear commentary on issues including, violence, disorder and antisocial behaviour, organised crime and complaints against the police.
Many crimes have fallen slightly during the period, including road safety and road crime, sexual crimes, and drug supply and possession,
However, fraud has also seen a significant spike, mirroring areas across the country in recent years.
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