Aging Vehicles: Evidence of the Effectiveness of New Car Security from the Home Office Car Theft Index

Brown, Rick; Thomas, Nerys

doi:10.1057/palgrave.sj.8340139

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…Kriven and Ziersch's influential (2007) study examined the early years of this decline and links it strongly to improved vehicle security. In particular, and consistent with the work of Brown and Thomas (2003) and Brown (2004) in the United Kingdom, they find an aging of stolen vehicles, which would be expected when newer cars are more difficult to steal (see also Laycock [2004] and Webb [2005] in relation to the United Kingdom).…”

Section: Australia and New Zealandsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…This is what would be expected if newer vehicles were more difficult to steal. Brown and Thomas (2003) and Brown (2004) found that the average age of stolen vehicles in England and Wales increased significantly as vehicle theft declined. Likewise, Kriven and Ziersch (2007) identified significant aging of stolen vehicles in Australia after 2001 when electronic immobilizers became mandatory on new vehicles.…”

Section: B Vehicle Theftmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why the Crime Drop?

Farrell¹,

Tilley²,

Tseloni³

2014

Crime and Justice

189

101

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Section: Australia and New Zealandsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: B Vehicle Theftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why the Crime Drop?

Farrell¹,

Tilley²,

Tseloni³

2014

Crime and Justice

189

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Their work sought to explain trends in England and Wales, and in Australia and focused on vehicle theft and the role of security. In keeping with the work of Brown and Thomas, 2003;Brown, 2004;Webb, 2005;Laycock, 2004) relating to England and Wales, and that of Potter and Thomas (2001) and Kriven and Ziersch (2007) relating to Australia, the study concluded that better and more widespread vehicle security underpinned the crime drops.…”

mentioning

confidence: 59%

The effectiveness of vehicle security devices and their role in the crime drop

Farrell

Tseloni

Tilley

2011

Criminology & Criminal Justice

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Car theft in the UK fell two-thirds from the mid-1990s as part of more widespread crime drops, and has been attributed to improved vehicle security. This study develops a Security Impact Assessment Tool (SIAT) to gauge the contribution of individual security devices and their combination. The metric of impact derived is termed the Security Protection Factor (SPF). Cars with central locking plus an electronic immobilizer, and often an alarm, are found to be ‘SPF 25’, that is, they were up to 25 times less likely to be stolen than those without security. That impact is greater than expected from the individual contributions of those devices, and is attributed to interaction effects. Tracking devices are found to be particularly effective but rarer. Protective effects were greater against theft of cars than against theft from cars or attempts, almost certainly reflecting the difficulty imposed on thieves by electronic immobilizers. It is suggested that this type of analysis could be usefully extended to other crime types and security combinations. The analysis also lends support to a ‘security hypothesis’ component of an explanation for the major national and international crime drops that is based in the criminologies of everyday life.

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“…Their results supported a theoretical concept developed by Sallybanks and Brown (1998), which is known as 'reduced-pool'-theory and based on the notion that new vehicles with high quality-security features lead to the displacement of opportunistic offenders towards older and less secure vehicle models. Brown and Thomas (2003) not only found a decline of vehicle thefts which was largest in the year in which electronic immobilisation was made compulsory in the EU but also evidence for a partial displacement effect towards older vehicles. At the other end of the age continuum increasing theft rates for vehicles aged one and two years were found which led the authors to conclude that vehicle thieves may have found alternative MOs, for example the theft of vehicle keys, to circumvent immobilisers.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In an evaluation of the effectiveness of engine immobilisers in the United Kingdom Brown and Thomas (2003) also took the vehicle age as a relevant factor for thefts into consideration. Their results supported a theoretical concept developed by Sallybanks and Brown (1998), which is known as 'reduced-pool'-theory and based on the notion that new vehicles with high quality-security features lead to the displacement of opportunistic offenders towards older and less secure vehicle models.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vehicle Theft Reduction in Germany: The Long-Term Effectiveness of Electronic Immobilisation

Bässmann¹

2011

Eur J Crim Policy Res

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From 1995 on all new vehicles sold in Germany must be fitted with an electronic immobiliser. This measure was part of a comprehensive police plan which, adopted in 1994, reacted to the unprecedented increase in vehicle theft after German re-unification and the breakdown of the former USSR. Whilst international research has already shown that electronic immobilisation is an effective tool to reduce vehicle thefts, comparable studies for Germany have not existed. Based on the situational crime prevention approach, this study indicates that the substantial vehicle theft reductions recorded over the last 15 years in Germany can be explained in particular by the introduction of electronic immobilisers as a 'target hardening' mechanism. It will be shown that immobilisers not only effectively obstruct opportunistic vehicle thieves, but also increase the efforts of professional vehicle trafficking groups. Since an external impact evaluation has never been planned for this measure, the study followed a mixed methods approach in using available police data as well as complementary interviews with key experts.

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Aging Vehicles: Evidence of the Effectiveness of New Car Security from the Home Office Car Theft Index

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Why the Crime Drop?

Why the Crime Drop?

The effectiveness of vehicle security devices and their role in the crime drop

Vehicle Theft Reduction in Germany: The Long-Term Effectiveness of Electronic Immobilisation

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