Been listening to lbc this morning.
Some police chief said were not bothering to pursue anyone who drives off not paying for fuel. As to.time consuming and costly.
And it’s upto the petrol stations to bring a claim against any losses they incur its not a police matter
Ridiculous.
Bilking is a crime but it seems the police are now not interested unless there is intent or evidence of a crime.
Like using false number plates.
They cite cutbacks for the change in policy on Bilking basically it seems.
What is the difference between taking fuel or a can of beans from a supermarket or clothing from a store, they are thefts plain and simple.
simcor:
Ridiculous.Bilking is a crime but it seems the police are now not interested unless there is intent or evidence of a crime.
Like using false number plates.
They cite cutbacks for the change in policy on Bilking basically it seems.
What is the difference between taking fuel or a can of beans from a supermarket or clothing from a store, they are thefts plain and simple.
Across the last couple of years unless it was a huge theft or they assaulted staff stopping them then the police wouldn’t attend shoplifting calls. Then we wonder why crime is going up. I expect most of these crimes are screened out anyway…
Two sides…
I’d have thought that bilking was one of the easiest crimes to detect. Nearly all petrol stations have CCTV. The drive away is normally recorded and the driver identified. The DVLA database tells them where to start looking. It’s mystifying as to why the police can’t be bothered.
The petrol companies can help themselves here with technology. For instance BP have an app that allows you to pay for your fuel without getting out of your car (Playstore BPme). If all the major players adopted this sort of approach then the numbers of fuel thefts would decrease and plod could go out and catch lots more hard working lorry drivers doing 33 in a 30 limit.
Now if the miscreants had sped off in an uninsured,untaxed car they would be caught.
yourhavingalarf:
Two sides…I’d have thought that bilking was one of the easiest crimes to detect. Nearly all petrol stations have CCTV. The drive away is normally recorded and the driver identified. The DVLA database tells them where to start looking. It’s mystifying as to why the police can’t be bothered.
The petrol companies can help themselves here with technology. For instance BP have an app that allows you to pay for your fuel without getting out of your car (Playstore BPme). If all the major players adopted this sort of approach then the numbers of fuel thefts would decrease and plod could go out and catch lots more hard working lorry drivers doing 33 in a 30 limit.
If it works the same as shoplifting then unless they have a long record they will only get a caution. It’s a lot of time and effort for a caution. Don’t agree with it but that’s their attitude.
The lorry driver gets fined so is a good earner and worth the effort…
simcor:
it seems the police are now not interested IN ANYTHING unless there is REVENUE TO BE MADE
.
FTFY
I wonder if they’d be so uninterested if the stolen fuel was tax exempted, ie the fuel station loses the cost of the fuel itself (probably around half) and the treasury agrees to refund the fuel tax and VAT on the stolen amount, sounds fair to me.
That way, in the words of our great leader Cameron the Vanished 
, we’d all be in it together.
As i’ve said in other threads, the police are no longer charged with the Peel principles of preventing crime and protecting the public, you really are on your own out there.
Remember marked patrol cars? George Dixon walking the beat?
They may not have been efficient at catching crooks, but maybe they were a visible deterrent?
There were more coppers a few years ago, but our politicians have chosen a more efficient form of policing. It isn’t efficient to chase small crooks, so they proliferate. We do get better “value for money”. Maybe we should accept that a better police service will cost us a few more quid? Many of us justify our nice cars and clothes saying “You only get what you pay for”. Isn’t it the same with services?
Vote for tax cuts,and you will pay more for petrol to subsidise business losses through theft. Invest in policing to prevent it. (It’s nicer to live away from crime too!)
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
Franglais:
Remember marked patrol cars? George Dixon walking the beat?
They may not have been efficient at catching crooks, but maybe they were a visible deterrent?
There were more coppers a few years ago, but our politicians have chosen a more efficient form of policing. It isn’t efficient to chase small crooks, so they proliferate. We do get better “value for money”. Maybe we should accept that a better police service will cost us a few more quid? Many of us justify our nice cars and clothes saying “You only get what you pay for”. Isn’t it the same with services?
Vote for tax cuts,and you will pay more for petrol to subsidise business losses through theft. Invest in policing to prevent it. (It’s nicer to live away from crime too!)Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
I won’t disagree we could use a few more police and that would cost money. My issue is what the ones we have are doing. Calling people nasty names on Facebook etc really doesn’t need police assistance but certain sections of society will get it. Same with speeding, it kills yes, but not as many as bad driving does and the camera will only catch the speeding. Which by coincidence raises money.
I have no issue paying a bit extra for the police but like the NHS there needs to be questions what the money they are getting is being spent on first
To be fair this crime but be shut down quite easily.
Where I fill up is a completely automated station where you have to pay BEFORE you fill up.
Really low overheads means they are a good bit cheaper than the traditional petrol stations and their overpriced impulse purchase temptations.
That and ■■■■ are getting really expensive here so servos are getting held up on the regular.
Fuel companies must decide if they are fuel retailers or corner shops.
Franglais:
Remember marked patrol cars? George Dixon walking the beat?
They may not have been efficient at catching crooks, but maybe they were a visible deterrent?
There were more coppers a few years ago, but our politicians have chosen a more efficient form of policing.
I was coming back up Sat on the M6 running through that 50mph roadworks section in Cheshire which is usually a cluster ■■■■ of bad driving practices, …cars running in the middle lane at 45mph like a carnival procession convoy, random lane changes for no reason, no ■■■■ er letting you out, undertaking, dicks in artics tailgating cars, and all the rest of it. 
A Police car then pulled out of Sandbach (maybe the poor soul was lost ) and suddenlly most, ok not all, of the ■■■■ poor driving techniques stopped, cars pulled back into lane 1, the artic dicks behaved themselves and everything ran relatively smooth.
There’s a message in their somewhere if that copper bothered to notice it.
AndieHyde:
Fuel companies must decide if they are fuel retailers or corner shops.
Fuel companies don’t own the petrol stations, individual separate businesses do. They make next to nowt on fuel any more which is why many are also now mini-marts etc.
The police say they haven’t enough officers but when I watch the police programmes they never seem short staffed it’s nothing to see 6 BMWs after someone with £5 worth of drugs.
I reckon there would be plenty of money for more police if they didn’t run around in BMW 2, 3, 5 series and X5s as well as the Merc E Classes and unmarked Audis
Ford, Volvos and Kias would be cheaper and just as effective as getting them from A to B
Franglais:
“You only get what you pay for”. Isn’t it the same with services?
Vote for tax cuts,and you will pay more for petrol to subsidise business losses through theft. Invest in policing to prevent it. (It’s nicer to live away from crime too!)Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
If it…
Alleviates all this austerity nonsense and stealth taxes, I’ll pay another 2p in the pound on my basic rate to fund the things that need it. The problems come with the tiers of upper management swallowing huge chunks of any budget in admin, pensions, golden parachute contracts, ridiculous bonus for failure payment terms and other rather spurious benefits.
Hyh:
I reckon there would be plenty of money for more police if they didn’t run around in BMW 2, 3, 5 series and X5s as well as the Merc E Classes and unmarked AudisFord, Volvos and Kias would be cheaper and just as effective as getting them from A to B
Absolutely spot on, they plead poverty and run around in top range BMWs.
Hyh:
I reckon there would be plenty of money for more police if they didn’t run around in BMW 2, 3, 5 series and X5s as well as the Merc E Classes and unmarked AudisFord, Volvos and Kias would be cheaper and just as effective as getting them from A to B
Would you buy an ex police Beemer?
How much life d’you reckon it’ll have?
Or would it be a (well maintained maybe) high mileage, company car having had many drivers and sometimes idling, sometimes thrashed?
Would a Ka be cheaper really??
Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
Franglais:
Hyh:
I reckon there would be plenty of money for more police if they didn’t run around in BMW 2, 3, 5 series and X5s as well as the Merc E Classes and unmarked AudisFord, Volvos and Kias would be cheaper and just as effective as getting them from A to B
Would you buy an ex police Beemer?
How much life d’you reckon it’ll have?
Or would it be a (well maintained maybe) high mileage, company car having had many drivers and sometimes idling, sometimes thrashed?
Would a Ka be cheaper really??Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk
Having owned a few ex-police Vauxhall’s, they are maintained to resumable STD, brakes and tyres aren’t scrimped on, tyres at 4mm, brakes every 6-8 weeks, all parts are genuine, decommissioning them is a pain, the way the hack the electrical systems around, but always were spot on, I wouldn’t buy an ex-plod BMW, they are having alsorts of problems with them, electronic, dual-mass fly wheels, fuelling, and 4wd systems on the x5.
yourhavingalarf:
For instance BP have an app that allows you to pay for your fuel without getting out of your car (Playstore BPme).
All very well but who puts the fuel in the car ■■