Keyless Car Thefts
2nd June 2025
Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Ref No: FOI2025/04051
I write in connection with your request for information received on 12th May. I note you seek access to the following information:
How many keyless car thefts or 'relay thefts' have been recorded in each of the last five years, 2020/2021/2022/2023/2024.
I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) to handle all requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any information released in response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore, in the public domain without caveat.
Response: Following searches conducted on the crime recording system of the Force please see our response below:
Bedfordshire Police do not routinely record whether a stolen car is keyless or not, so we have supplied two tables of data. One which contains all theft and attempted theft of vehicles and the other where a keyword search for “KEYLESS” has been performed on the crimes:
Recorded Crime - All Vehicle Thefts
Dates between: 1.1.2020 - 31.12.2024
|
Offence |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
Grand Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
048/01 - Theft of a motor vehicle |
690 |
1012 |
1238 |
1334 |
1486 |
5760 |
|
130/01 - Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle (does not include 'driving or being carried knowing motor vehicle has been taken ') |
153 |
209 |
193 |
181 |
178 |
914 |
|
037/02 - Aggravated vehicle taking |
30 |
63 |
70 |
45 |
61 |
269 |
|
131/03 - Aggravated vehicle taking (driving / being carried) offences causing damage to vehicle and / or property under £5000 |
16 |
33 |
21 |
21 |
44 |
135 |
|
048/01 - Attempted - Theft of a motor vehicle |
10 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
|
037/02 - Attempted - Aggravated vehicle taking |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
899 |
1328 |
1522 |
1582 |
1769 |
7100 |
Recorded Crime - Vehicle Theft
Crime text word search: 'KEYLESS'
Dates between: 1.1.2020 - 31.12.2024
|
word search: 'KEYLESS' |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
Grand Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
'keyless' |
10 |
10 |
14 |
8 |
21 |
63 |
|
048/01 - Theft of a motor vehicle |
9 |
9 |
13 |
6 |
18 |
55 |
|
037/02 - Aggravated vehicle taking |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
130/01 - Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle (does not include 'driving or being carried knowing motor vehicle has been taken ') |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Grand Total |
10 |
10 |
14 |
8 |
21 |
63 |
The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.