Contact the police or not?

[noogieman]

Driver of the vehicle put stolen license plates on a different car to fool the police.
Reason crooks do this is to make it harder for coppers to track down who the perps are when they commit crime.

If you see them again play dumb and pick up the phone and call the police.

 

[Grovesy]

Driver of the vehicle put stolen license plates on a different car to fool the police.
Reason crooks do this is to make it harder for coppers to track down who the perps are when they commit crime.

If you see them again play dumb and pick up the phone and call the police.

That’s a good shout I will do! I’ll make sure the dashcam gets it as well

 

[Aded]

First of all I hope this is the right place to post this. Not sure if it’s better under incidents

My dad takes our family border collie to a park a couple of miles away. Over the past few days he has noticed a couple of cars very early in the morning acting suspiciously parked in the car park. They speed around our area and stop in random places for a few minutes and then zoom off.

Now I know the above is nothing strange or illegal in this day and age but what’s intriguing is when we checked the number plate out of interest for tax and insurance both came up with completely different vehicles. Eg one is a fiesta comes up as an Audi A4 avant.

Is it worth contacting the police via the non-emergency number? Or are we being nosey and should mind our own business?

Any opinions would be great as we don’t want to be nosey but want to obviously help if there’s any dodgy dealings going on!

Yes. It is good as you reported it but sometimes police don’t do nothing. 2 weeks ago my neighbour saw two van parked near our street all day,He checked both car no tax on them,he reported to police and They told him to report to DVLA, he expect police to come down and have a look at the vans.All day police did not come and the drivers took the van away letter. He reported to DVLA as well.

 

[Jukie]

Yes. It is good as you reported it but sometimes police don’t do nothing. 2 weeks ago my neighbour saw two van parked near our street all day,He checked both car no tax on them,he reported to police and They told him to report to DVLA, he expect police to come down and have a look at the vans.All day police did not come and the drivers took the van away letter. He reported to DVLA as well.

An untaxed vehicle is a DVLA issue, not a police issue.

I would not expect the police to attend these vehicles unless their checks showed they were "of interest", e.g. reported stolen or known to have been used in crime.

I would hope the relevant force submitted an intelligence report concerning the vehicles but tax issue aside, they could have been there for a legitimate and innocent reason.

 

[Marquisofraspberry]

Ringing 999 to report suspicious activity is always a good thing, many years ago the aged mother in law calls the wife (she's ex job) to say she seen some blokes in a car acting suspiciously over the road from the post office what should I do, ring 999 was the wifes reply, a few hours later mum in law rings back, the police came and arrested three tooled up guys knocking over the post office. So if it looks dodgy most likely is dodgy and worth reporting.

 

[MEMERC7]

Possible dog thieves, very much on the rise these days. They are usually in Rovers Poodling about (sorry).
To be serious be sure you haven't been spotted observing them, such sub-humans could quickly turn on you just for interfering & spoiling their day.
The last time I attempted to report a crime I too gave up after being told I was about number18 in a queue - such is this country in 2021.

 

[Pct100]

Hi,
100% yes. Anyone on false plates is gonna be up to no good!

 

[kianok]

You do right reporting it.

I found a pair of number plates chucked under a hedge while walking the dog recently and the police were very keen to collect them.

using webchat is usually a much easier way of reporting such things.

 

[Grovesy]

Thanks again for the replies all, very interesting to read and see all of the things the scum get up to under the use of fake plates.

We went to the same park this morning (discreetly I might add as I realise as mentioned these lowlifes can quickly turn on people) but alas there was nothing. They have been there the past few days though as a few others walking their dogs had seen them (if you take your dog to a particular place you soon chat to other owners the pass time ). Others have noticed the same and I encouraged them all to contact the police. Hopefully enough of us reporting will put it further up the pecking order.

Hopefully something comes from it, if not then I’ve done all I can do.

Really appreciate all the comments and information everyone, nice to be part of a forum of such knowledgable people

 

[Rosetta]

Glad you reported it, it's the right thing to do.
The plates could be stolen. If they are, the cars are unlikely to have MOT and likely to have no insurance. You don't want one of these running into you and driving off. Or involved in criminal activity, such as armed robbery or ram raiding. Worse, you don't want someone being killed or injured due to reckless driving. There is a massive criminal element around stolen plates.

 

[Grovesy]

Glad you reported it, it's the right thing to do.
The plates could be stolen. If they are, the cars are unlikely to have MOT and likely to have no insurance. You don't want one of these running into you and driving off. Or involved in criminal activity, such as armed robbery or ram raiding. Worse, you don't want someone being killed or injured due to reckless driving. There is a massive criminal element around stolen plates.

That’s the thing and there’s definitely a rise in my area, after talking to a few local people and even reading local news (which I never do) im amazed how things are going down hill. Haven’t heard anything back from the police but glad I reported it!

 

[LTD]

Somebody in my area cloned my daughter’s fiancé’s car - same model and reg number.

Was interesting for the police when he caught it on his dash cam.

 

[Londonscottish]

That’s the thing and there’s definitely a rise in my area, after talking to a few local people and even reading local news (which I never do) im amazed how things are going down hill. Haven’t heard anything back from the police but glad I reported it!

Often a very small number of crims are repsonsible for huge spates of activity in given area before they get nicked and it drops off. A lot of them are pretty thick and lazy, don't stray far from home and carry out the same crime over and over again. That's how they get nicked.....

 

[Grovesy]

Often a very small number of crims are repsonsible for huge spates of activity in given area before they get nicked and it drops off. A lot of them are pretty thick and lazy, don't stray far from home and carry out the same crime over and over again. That's how they get nicked.....

Very true! Then get a sentenced and we see them again not too long after...

 

[Big Janner]

Very true! Then get a sentenced

To a few hour community service
Fined a tenner
Sent on their way.

I know that, like many of our institutions, the courts are under pressure not to jail offenders unless absolutely necessary, but, the lack of punishment or reparations is fuelling the problem.
The inconsiderate offenders know that, even if they are caught (and statistically the chances are low) they will, in effect, get away with it, so, they keep on doing what they keep on doing.

We need to find ways to persuade low level criminals to mend their ways, then, they will not go on to bigger things.

 

[Petrol Pete]

"....We need to find ways to persuade low level criminals to mend their ways, then, they will not go on to bigger things..."

Like becoming MP's and then becoming members of parliament

 

[Grovesy]

To a few hour community service
Fined a tenner
Sent on their way.

I know that, like many of our institutions, the courts are under pressure not to jail offenders unless absolutely necessary, but, the lack of punishment or reparations is fuelling the problem.
The inconsiderate offenders know that, even if they are caught (and statistically the chances are low) they will, in effect, get away with it, so, they keep on doing what they keep on doing.

We need to find ways to persuade low level criminals to mend their ways, then, they will not go on to bigger things.

That’s the nail on the head right there. There isn’t enough fear factor of being court in order to stop them in their tracks or at least enough risk or a proper punishment to stop all but the most determined crims to stop.

One of the reasons I can’t stand shows on the tv like police interceptors when at the end they make out the scum on the run have had a proper punishment when really it’s a glorified slap on the wrists. Sadly there’s not enough most resources anymore.

 

[Slartibartfast]

"....We need to find ways to persuade low level criminals to mend their ways, then, they will not go on to bigger things..."

Like becoming MP's and then becoming members of parliament

I thought that was already happening

 

[Deleted member 134751]

If you ring 101 please let us know how long you wait and their response.
I gave up waiting twice.

I rang 101 last year to report someone trying car door handles. They answered the phone after literally 20 minutes. But to be fair, they did follow it up and rang me back to say they'd caught up with the guy and spoken to him (although whether that was actually true or not is anyones guess). The police actually rang me back at 11:30pm to tell me that, which I thought was a bit odd but I was awake anyway so didn't bother me. I appreciate they are busy and understaffed so I was quite happy (and a bit surprised) with the result. Best 15p I've ever spent.

 

[Deleted member 134751]

Hopefully something comes from it, if not then I’ve done all I can do.

Absolutely. The police need law abiding citizens to report this stuff to them. They can't be everywhere at once and if the public don't report things to them, they'll never know.

Did you ring 999 or 101?