I would be grateful if you would provide the following
information on fuel theft for each of the following financial years
- 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
(1) The number of recorded fuel thefts ("make-offs", "bilking")
from petrol stations, garage forecourts, supermarkets or
convenience stores for each of the following financial years -
2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
(2) The number of recorded fuel thefts from lorries or large
commercial vehicles (HGVs) for each of the following financial
years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
(3) The number of fuel thefts from cars for each of the
following financial years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
(4) The number of fuel thefts from commercial premises such as
farms, haulage contractors for each of the following financial
years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
(5) The number of fuel thefts from private residential premises
for each of the following financial years - 2008-09, 2009-10,
2010-11.
(6) The estimated total value of fuel thefts in the last
financial year.
In accordance with section 1(1) (b) of the Act our response is
provided below;
Please note: Our response is contained in the attached Excel
Sheet, however the researcher who compiled the data has made some
notes in relation to each of your questions. I have included those
notes below as it may be helpful for you to see how the figures
were arrived at and the 'caveats attached'
The date period used for this search was 01.04.08 -
31.03.11.
(1) The number of recorded fuel thefts ("make-offs", "bilking")
from petrol stations, garage forecourts, supermarkets or
convenience stores for each of the following financial years -
2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
To produce some data for this question I used the HO code
description "Making off Without Payment". I added the field 'free
text' to the query and extracted the data into Excel. Once in Excel
I used a macro to pull out the occurrences where the word 'fuel',
'petrol' or 'diesel' occurred in the 'free text'. I then produced a
pivot table by date. Please see the 'Results' tab on the attached
document.
Please note: Without reading through the 8275 recorded crimes
there is no way of knowing whether the location was a petrol
station, garage forecourt, supermarket or convenience store. (This
would exceed the FOI cost limits)
(2) The number of recorded fuel thefts from lorries or large
commercial vehicles (HGVs) for each of the following financial
years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
To produce some data for this question I used the General
Property Subtype "Fuel" and the HO code descriptions Handling
Stolen Goods, Criminal Damage to a Vehicle, Interfering with a
Motor Vehicle, Other Theft and Theft from a Vehicle. I also added
the field 'Vehicle Type'. I then produced a pivot table by date and
by vehicle type. Please see the 'Results' tab on the attached
document.
Please note: The fields 'General Property Subtype "Fuel" and
'Vehicle Type' are not mandatory fields and as such these figures
may not be conclusive as we are reliant on the accuracy of the data
entry.
(3) The number of fuel thefts from cars for each of the
following financial years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
To produce some data for this question I used exactly the same
query as with Q2 only I filtered the vehicle type to include
cars.
Please note: The fields 'General Property Subtype "Fuel" and
'Vehicle Type' are not mandatory fields and as such these figures
may not be conclusive as we are reliant on the accuracy of the data
entry.
(4) The number of fuel thefts from commercial premises such as
farms, haulage contractors for each of the following financial
years - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11.
To produce some data for this question I used the General
Property Subtype "Fuel" and the HO code descriptions Burglary in a
Building other than a Dwelling and Aggravated Burglary in a
Building other than a Dwelling . I then produced a pivot table by
date. Please see the 'Results' tab on the attached document.
Please note: The field 'General Property Subtype "Fuel" is not a
mandatory field and as such these figures may not be conclusive as
we are reliant on the accuracy of the data entry.
Please note: I read through the 73 recorded crimes and the 'free
text' comments negated to mention what kind of commercial premises
had been affected.
(5) The number of fuel thefts from private residential premises
for each of the following financial years - 2008-09, 2009-10,
2010-11.
To produce some data for this question I used exactly the same
query as with Q4 only I filtered the HO Code Description to include
Burglary in a Dwelling and Aggravated Burglary in a Dwelling. I
then produced a pivot table by date. Please see the 'Results' tab
on the attached document.
Please note: The field 'General Property Subtype "Fuel" is not a
mandatory field and as such these figures may not be conclusive as
we are reliant on the accuracy of the data entry.
(6) The estimated total value of fuel thefts in the last
financial year.
To produce some data for this question I used all the above
queries and added the field 'Original Value'. I then produced a
pivot table by date. Please see the 'Results' tab on the attached
document.
Please note: The field 'Original Value' is not a mandatory field
and as such these figures may not be conclusive as we are reliant
on the accuracy of the data entry.
FOI
3071 - Theft of fuel
Please Note also:
Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to
provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording
criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording
these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally
in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these
reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used
for comparison purposes with any other response you may
receive.