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Bag snatchers, pickpockets and street crime. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
According to the latest police figures, | 0:00:04 | 0:00:06 | |
more than 3,500 incidents of theft | 0:00:06 | 0:00:07 | |
are reported every day in the UK. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
He was the innocent victim of a scam that is all too common. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
I was angry. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:15 | |
But what happens to our belongings when they're stolen? | 0:00:15 | 0:00:17 | |
Thief Trackers show us who takes them and where they go... | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
..hiding trackers inside desirable items | 0:00:23 | 0:00:25 | |
like cameras, smartphones and bicycles | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
to trace their every move. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:31 | |
The thieves think they've got away with it, | 0:00:31 | 0:00:33 | |
but we've got them under surveillance. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:35 | |
Using undercover footage, CCTV and tracking technology, | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
we'll get an insight into the criminal mind... | 0:00:44 | 0:00:46 | |
..and uncover the unseen journey that our possessions take | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
when they're stolen. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:52 | |
Today, the undercover team are on the trail of a stolen laptop... | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
..tracking the thief through the city streets. | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
He's actually not much further ahead of us. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
Plus, crooks on the run try to outwit the eye in the sky... | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
They separated, made off across open fields. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
..but didn't bank on the eagle-eyed kids on the ground. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
As I panned the camera round, I saw that a number of | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
the children had arranged themselves into an arrow. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:28 | |
The remarkable thing is how accurate they were. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:30 | |
And cutting-edge technology helps trace a motorbike's true identity. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:37 | |
The engine, the seat and the mirrors were from a different bike. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
This bike has been built by a thief. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
Would you trust a bike thief to build your bike? I wouldn't. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
Car theft across the UK has been reduced in the last ten years, | 0:01:54 | 0:01:58 | |
mainly due to advances in technology, | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
but theft FROM a vehicle is still a major problem. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:03 | |
Many drivers leave their possessions in the car, | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
and it's reported that across the UK | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
over £3 billion worth of belongings are kept in vehicles overnight. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:15 | |
Helping the Thief Trackers with our investigation | 0:02:18 | 0:02:21 | |
is our specialist crime adviser, Alex Stewart. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:24 | |
He was assigned to some of the toughest areas of London, | 0:02:24 | 0:02:26 | |
both on patrol and as an undercover officer | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
in his time on the force with the Metropolitan Police. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
From theft to drugs to violence crime, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
he's seen what life is like on the streets. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:38 | |
We're all guilty of leaving our valuables in our car | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
at one time or another - | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
satnavs, mobile phones, even laptops, | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
all creating a ready opportunity for thieves to target. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
Most car break-ins are committed by thieves | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
who target a specific area, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
often a quiet residential street, | 0:02:55 | 0:02:57 | |
breaking into two or three cars before moving on. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
Keeping tabs on the thieves | 0:03:01 | 0:03:02 | |
is the Thief Trackers' undercover team | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
who will be mounting a covert surveillance operation. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:09 | |
For their safety, you won't see them, but you'll hear their voices. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:13 | |
Keep your camera on these guys. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:14 | |
Laptops are the number one item stolen from cars. | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
So we're fitting one with a tracker, so if it's stolen, | 0:03:28 | 0:03:30 | |
we can use the GPS tracking signal to follow where it goes | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
and track down the thieves. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:35 | |
The Thief Trackers' undercover team rig our car with hidden cameras | 0:03:37 | 0:03:41 | |
to catch any unsuspecting thief in action. | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
So, we're going to park the car up in a location in east London. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
It's an up-and-coming area, | 0:03:48 | 0:03:50 | |
but it's still subject to very high levels of vehicle crime. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:54 | |
In fact, the highest levels in London. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
So we're very confident that if we put the car in this location | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
someone is going to break into it. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
The car is parked on a side street. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:08 | |
This is an everyday situation, | 0:04:08 | 0:04:10 | |
as people step away from their cars, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:11 | |
leaving property inside thinking it's safe. | 0:04:11 | 0:04:14 | |
It's something we all do. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
The laptop tracker is live. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:19 | |
The team sit tight in a nearby vehicle. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
It's time to watch and wait. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
-This looks good. -He's having a look. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
Just watching to see if anyone comes back, I think. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
He totally made a beeline for that car earlier. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
He really, really did. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
Not a lot happens during the day, | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
but as darkness falls, it's a different story. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:13 | |
CAR HANDLE THUDS | 0:05:38 | 0:05:40 | |
He can't get in. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:41 | |
But he appears to have walked away. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
There's been no further attempts, | 0:05:54 | 0:05:55 | |
so, for now, the Thief Trackers sit tight. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
The next day, it's not long before there's some interest in the car. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
-OK, here we go. -Someone walking past. Oh. He's seen it. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
Let's have a look. Have a look. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
-Is it the same guy? -Yet, it is the same guy. Definitely. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
Our suspect is back and parked his car right next to ours. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
He's now on the phone. Seems he needs advice on what to do. | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
Oh, that's an attempted theft right there. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:07:13 | 0:07:14 | |
Sounds like we're wrong. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
Later on, we'll pick up his trail | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
as our laptop goes deeper into the criminal underworld. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
There's definitely something going on down here. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
Once crooks have disappeared from the crime scene, | 0:07:50 | 0:07:53 | |
it's hard to track them down. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:54 | |
Catching criminals on the run is always a challenge for the police. | 0:07:57 | 0:08:01 | |
But one of the most useful tracking tools they have | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
is the helicopter units - | 0:08:04 | 0:08:05 | |
the eye in the sky. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
The National Police Air Service use helicopters equipped with | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
high-tech thermal imaging cameras which can pick up body heat. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:15 | |
So working with their colleagues on the ground, | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
the police can track criminals on the run, day or night, | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
even if they hide in woodland, | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
turning up the heat on the crooks. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:25 | |
So, as a unit, we operate quite differently | 0:08:29 | 0:08:30 | |
to the officers on the ground. | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
We are quite often used for search tasks | 0:08:32 | 0:08:34 | |
because we can cover a large area very quickly. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
You never know what you're going to be required for. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
It can very quickly change. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:42 | |
You can turn up thinking our main role is to locate someone, | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
search for someone and locate them, | 0:08:46 | 0:08:47 | |
and it can quickly develop into an evidence gathering | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
or a tactical command, a public reassurance role. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:54 | |
We're observers, so we're monitoring things out on the ground, | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
we're communicating with our colleagues using the police radios, | 0:08:57 | 0:09:01 | |
we're operating specialist camera equipment, | 0:09:01 | 0:09:03 | |
we're assisting the pilot with communications, | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
monitoring various channels. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
Generally we'd operate with a pilot in the aircraft | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
and two police officers, two tactical flight officers. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:15 | |
The pilots themselves are not police officers - | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
they're employed as civilian police staff, | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
mostly ex-military. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:21 | |
The important thing is, what objective do you want us to achieve? | 0:09:23 | 0:09:26 | |
And that is to attend, search for, locate | 0:09:26 | 0:09:30 | |
and then contain the persons and talk the ground units on. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:33 | |
It was a normal day. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:37 | |
We were just in the hangar, | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
and a call came through as a matter of routine from our dispatch centre. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:43 | |
PHONE RINGS | 0:09:43 | 0:09:44 | |
There was a report of intruders in an industrial premises | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
in Capel in Surrey. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:48 | |
OK, bear with me. Job! | 0:09:48 | 0:09:50 | |
They'd been attempting to steal property from the premises | 0:09:52 | 0:09:56 | |
and a security guard who's employed had been confronted and threatened, | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
hence why he called for police assistance. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
There were rough descriptions that the fact the suspects were male | 0:10:04 | 0:10:07 | |
and roughly what direction they'd made off in. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
That was about it. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:11 | |
I would've run out of the office to the aircraft with the pilot, | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
we get the aircraft fired up, | 0:10:14 | 0:10:16 | |
and then Rory will come out with all the details. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
Quite often, with jobs, when you go to the aircraft, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
you've got a limited amount of information. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
The tactical commander often stays in the hangar as long as possible | 0:10:23 | 0:10:27 | |
so that you can get the most up-to-date information. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:30 | |
Because it takes a couple of minutes to start the aircraft up, | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
things may have changed - location, descriptions, etc. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
Time was of the essence, | 0:10:38 | 0:10:39 | |
and we needed to get there very quickly, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
if nothing else, to contain it | 0:10:41 | 0:10:43 | |
before we commenced our search with the ground units. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:45 | |
Approaching the scene, | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
we were predominantly trying to locate the suspects. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
We could see the brickworks from some distance away | 0:11:00 | 0:11:03 | |
on the helicopter's camera, | 0:11:03 | 0:11:05 | |
and there was almost an element of frustration at the start | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
if you can't find what you're looking for. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:10 | |
You can circle the target a number of times, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
but unless you immediately spot what you're looking for, | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
it can be a bit... you realise that seconds count. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:20 | |
There were no obvious suspects running away, | 0:11:22 | 0:11:24 | |
driving away in order to track them. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
But that's when we got an update from the control room | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
that a nearby resident had disturbed three males | 0:11:31 | 0:11:35 | |
trying to break through the rear fence of his back garden. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
We identified where that resident lived | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
and concentrated our search in that area. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
So, we were clearing the areas, | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
and then it was an excellent spot by my colleague, Matt Kilpatrick, | 0:11:48 | 0:11:50 | |
who was operating the camera on the day. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:52 | |
Front seat role is all about assisting the pilot | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
whilst we're on the way to the job. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:56 | |
Once we're on task, it's for me to operate the camera | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
based on Rory's direction. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:00 | |
So Rory is speaking to the coppers on the ground, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:02 | |
so our control room to their control room, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:04 | |
obtaining all the information | 0:12:04 | 0:12:06 | |
and identifying which areas are relevant for us to search. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:09 | |
It was a very small heat source, but it was immediately clear to me | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
that it could have been a person. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:16 | |
So we move the aircraft over and managed to identify | 0:12:16 | 0:12:18 | |
that it was two people sat in the hedge. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:20 | |
They're using the thermal imaging camera, | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
which picks up on heat sources. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
So just because you're hiding in the bushes, | 0:12:26 | 0:12:28 | |
it doesn't mean you can't be seen. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:30 | |
-RADIO: -New information - | 0:12:30 | 0:12:32 | |
we've got two persons hiding beneath a tree. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
The males soon realised, I think, that we were onto them. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
You could clearly see them on thermal imagery, | 0:12:38 | 0:12:41 | |
and it's almost, "When's the penny going to drop that we can see you?" | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
Because, obviously, we are not in a position to lean out | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
and say, "We can see you." | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
They separated, made off across open fields. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
-RADIO: -Now splitting, trying to create their own luck. | 0:12:53 | 0:12:57 | |
Then it was a case of, "Well, do we settle for one, | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
"or do we try and juggle both?" | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
I was following one of them on the camera and at that point, | 0:13:02 | 0:13:05 | |
I'm very focused on the screen on the front of the aircraft, | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
so I lose my awareness of where the second suspect has gone. | 0:13:08 | 0:13:10 | |
I'm filming one, and Rory and Neil the pilot | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
are keeping track on the other one out the window. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
It must have been a good 20 minutes we were monitoring them, | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
trying to get the area contained and liaising with Surrey Police | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
who were directing the ground units. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
There were lots of people out on the ground. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:29 | |
You quite often see groups of people waving | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
and trying to get your attention, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:33 | |
but you assume it's because it's a bit of a novelty | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
having a police helicopter overhead. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:38 | |
The kids were waving, and it was only five, ten minutes, | 0:13:38 | 0:13:42 | |
it could have been longer than, | 0:13:42 | 0:13:43 | |
that my colleague, Matt, then noticed the kids forming the arrow. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:48 | |
As I panned the camera round, I saw that a number of the people, | 0:13:50 | 0:13:52 | |
a number of the children had arranged themselves into | 0:13:52 | 0:13:54 | |
an arrow in the middle of this ploughed field. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:56 | |
My initial reaction was, "What are they all doing lying down?" | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
And then, it kind of dawned on me, the shape they were laid in. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
The remarkable thing is how accurate they were. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:07 | |
When we searched the area, I think you see from the footage, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
that Matt was able to track the camera | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
towards the woodland they were pointing to, | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
and coincidentally, at that point, | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
the suspect realised he'd been rumbled... | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
..and made a break for it, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:19 | |
so we were then able to track him for as long as necessary. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:23 | |
And because it was such a vast, open rural area, | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
we had to talk them in from surrounding roads. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:30 | |
The first male had gone to ground beneath some bushes | 0:14:30 | 0:14:33 | |
and was fairly confident we couldn't see him. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
-RADIO: -In the bushes there, on the left. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:37 | |
He wasn't going anywhere. Didn't want to break cover. | 0:14:37 | 0:14:40 | |
Our colleagues were able to go to his location | 0:14:40 | 0:14:42 | |
and detain him straightaway. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
-RADIO: -The male is in custody. Good work. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:48 | |
The second suspect, who the Capel kids had pointed towards, | 0:14:48 | 0:14:53 | |
decided that he wanted to run and run and run. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
So we were able to track him using the camera... | 0:14:56 | 0:14:58 | |
-RADIO: -You've got visual. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:00 | |
..to a nearby location | 0:15:00 | 0:15:02 | |
where officers were on standby with a marked vehicle, | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
and they were able to detain him without issue. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
After both suspects had been detained, we landed in the field, | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
partly to thank the children | 0:15:13 | 0:15:14 | |
and partly to work out what it was they were doing there. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
It turned out they were part of an organised Easter egg hunt. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
I get the impression that the first attempts of waving were | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
"Hi, look at us! We're trying to help you!" | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
We obviously didn't take the hint, | 0:15:25 | 0:15:26 | |
and they thought, "How else can we make it a bit more obvious?" | 0:15:26 | 0:15:29 | |
And then we got the message second time round. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:31 | |
It's nice to see their reaction and give them a positive message | 0:15:33 | 0:15:37 | |
about how you can engage in a positive way with the police. | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
Somebody hit the nail on the head and said | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
it was like an episode of Scooby-Doo, | 0:15:44 | 0:15:46 | |
where the suspects are often heard to say, | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
"If it wasn't for those pesky kids." | 0:15:49 | 0:15:51 | |
I think that's very apt. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
We're returning to our covert surveillance operation | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
with the Thief Trackers undercover team. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
Earlier, we rigged a car with hidden cameras | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
and left a laptop on view inside. | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
As the team watched nearby, this guy tried to force the window. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:12 | |
When he had no luck, he made a more drastic move... | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
..driving off with our laptop, | 0:16:21 | 0:16:23 | |
unaware the team are following him | 0:16:23 | 0:16:25 | |
thanks to the GPS signal from the tracker inside. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
The undercover team are joined by our crime advisor, | 0:16:33 | 0:16:35 | |
Alex Stewart, and together they pick up the thief's trail. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
So we need to go left here. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:43 | |
Then it's going to be your second road on the right. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:48 | |
All right, go straight down here. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
He's taking this route. When you get to the end, he's gone left. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:58 | |
From the map, it looks like this joins up with West Ham Lane. | 0:16:58 | 0:17:02 | |
Oh. Right, we've reached a dead end. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
So we're going to have to stop and work out what's happened. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:14 | |
All right, so we've got this single yellow line here | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
and a load of parking bays up there. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
So given that this is a dead end, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:28 | |
I think what's happened is he must have parked his vehicle up somewhere | 0:17:28 | 0:17:33 | |
and then continued on foot to one of the bus stops | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
that we've got up here. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:39 | |
We're going to need to get back into the vehicle, | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
check on what the tracker is doing | 0:17:41 | 0:17:43 | |
and see if we can get behind them again. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:46 | |
So just there on the left is the cul-de-sac that we ended up in. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:57 | |
Given the speed with which the device is now moving, | 0:17:57 | 0:18:01 | |
I suspect he's on a bus. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:02 | |
So you're going to be taking this exit here. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:08 | |
-He's on West Ham Lane heading northbound. -This first exit here? | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
Yeah. This exit here. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
You need to keep going straight in this direction. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
Then when we get to this next junction, | 0:18:19 | 0:18:20 | |
-I want you bearing right. -Fine. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:22 | |
At this junction here, I need you to go left. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:26 | |
So once we've gone down a right here, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
he's actually not that much further ahead of us. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
What we're looking for is a road on our right-hand side. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
Then, after that, there's a number of buildings. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
I think he's probably gone to ground in one of those. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
So we've come a long distance here. We're now in Walthamstow. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
Just across this main road here is Walthamstow Magistrates' Court. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
This guy is brazen. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:11 | |
He's stolen a laptop and come all the way north | 0:19:11 | 0:19:15 | |
and is now opposite a court that he would go to if he got captured. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:20 | |
This large building is the location of the laptop. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:24 | |
We know that the laptop is in there at the moment. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
Obviously it may be our suspect who's got it, | 0:19:27 | 0:19:29 | |
it may be somebody else. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
It may have changed hands at this point. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:33 | |
What we need to do now is get out of here before we attract any | 0:19:33 | 0:19:36 | |
attention to ourselves. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:38 | |
We must stake out this location and wait for the laptop to move again. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
The signal doesn't move for several hours. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
During the night shift, the tracker springs into life. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
The Thief Trackers are hot on the trail. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
The team follow the tracking signal... | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
..leading them to a house four miles away. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:13 | |
They stake out the house, but the signal doesn't move, | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
so they watch and wait. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
Overnight, the signal from the laptop disappears. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
It's possible that the tracker has been discovered and destroyed. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:56 | |
With no sign of the thief or his car, the team decide to | 0:20:56 | 0:21:00 | |
return to the area where the laptop was stolen to try and find him. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:04 | |
That looks like the car. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:07 | |
This looks like the thief's car. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:12 | |
I think it's two numberplates. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:20 | |
The car has false numberplates to conceal its true identity. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:24 | |
That second numberplate, that could be... | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
That could be a fake one on top, it could be a clone. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:29 | |
Look at these guys. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
There's definitely something going on down here. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:33 | |
I think we should leave. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:38 | |
The undercover team spent two weeks staking out this area. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
There was no sign of the thief, even though his car was still here | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
and there were plenty of other activities going on. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
What they did notice was that his vehicle was bearing false plates. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:56 | |
They were stuck over to conceal what was underneath. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:59 | |
There is no good reason for a vehicle | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
to conceal its true identity. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
With the tracker signal having gone dead and no sign of the thief, | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
the undercover team sadly had to call it a day. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
We couldn't find the thief, but maybe the police can. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:14 | |
We're more than happy for them to have | 0:22:14 | 0:22:15 | |
a look at our unblurred footage of the laptop snatcher in action. | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
Motorbike theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the UK, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:30 | |
up 44% in the last few years. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
Highly organised gangs are stealing motorcycles to sell them on | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
or strip down for parts, | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
even putting the stolen parts together in illegal chop shops | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
to make a different bike altogether. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
But cutting-edge technology is being used | 0:22:43 | 0:22:45 | |
to fight back against the thieves. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
A security scheme known as MASTER - | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
the Motorcycle And Scooter Tagged Equipment Register - | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
was launched with the backing of the police. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
Individual parts of a motorbike are now marked using ultraviolet etching | 0:22:56 | 0:23:01 | |
and radio frequency identity tags. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
This means every part of a motorbike contains a unique code, | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
which can track it back to the legal owner | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
to hopefully clamp down on thieves selling bikes made from | 0:23:10 | 0:23:13 | |
stolen parts to unsuspecting innocent victims. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:16 | |
I've always wanted an R6. It was a dream bike of mine. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:22 | |
I'd found the bike on Gumtree, a Gumtree app. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:30 | |
I'd messaged the bloke, travelled down on the weekend, saw the bike. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
I took it out for a test drive. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
The paperwork seemed legit, the bike seemed legit. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
I purchased it there and then and brought it back home. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
It was the perfect bike for me at the time. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
It was the one I've always wanted, so I was lucky to get it first time. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
So I thought. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:58 | |
I went to Brands Hatch racetrack in October 2015. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
I went to watch British Superbikes racing. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
I took the girlfriend with me. It was a nice day out. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
I first found out there was something wrong with the bike | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
at the track. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:14 | |
Hello. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:15 | |
'I got a phone call from my insurance company.' | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
They told me to go back to my bike as they knew I was at Brands Hatch. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
I was kind of confused at the time. I didn't know what was going on. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
OK, I'll be there in a minute. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:24 | |
'I've gone back to the bike, it's been pulled forward.' | 0:24:24 | 0:24:26 | |
The police are around it, Datatag are around the bike as well. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:30 | |
I honestly had no idea what was going on at the time. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:33 | |
The security company who run the nationwide bike tagging scheme | 0:24:34 | 0:24:38 | |
were scanning for stolen bikes and parts. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:40 | |
We came across Kurt's bike and scanned it as a matter of course. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
There was no outward identifiers, as I say, | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
it had got the MASTER scheme on, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
but it was in the vulnerable age range of bikes, so 2005 to 2010. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:54 | |
Bikes manufactured in this period didn't have security markings | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
on them, which is why they're more likely to be stolen, | 0:24:57 | 0:25:00 | |
and which is why Kurt's bike set alarm bells ringing. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:03 | |
The police managed to contact Kurt, who was with his girlfriend | 0:25:04 | 0:25:07 | |
watching the racing at Brands Hatch, and ruined his day, really. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:12 | |
The police told me that the bike had stolen parts on it - | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
the engine, the seat and the mirrors itself were from a different bike. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:20 | |
Technology allowed us to track those parts back to | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
an original stolen Yamaha R6, | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
which had been the donor bike for the clone bike that Kurt | 0:25:28 | 0:25:32 | |
ended up buying, so when he came in and bought his motorcycle, | 0:25:32 | 0:25:35 | |
he was actually buying two bikes - one stolen, one not. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
Unfortunately, when the investigations came to an end, | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
it transpired that the only thing that poor, old Kurt actually owned | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
was a frame. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
I was angry. I didn't know what to say. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
I had no idea of the problem at the time. I had no... | 0:25:50 | 0:25:54 | |
I was completely unaware. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
Never knew anything like this was going to happen. | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
I was told by the police that I could take the bike, | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
but if I signed a declaration, I couldn't change any parts on it, | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
I couldn't sell it and I couldn't break it. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:07 | |
I was under investigation from the police, | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
I could have been fined, sentenced, I don't know. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
He was genuinely, genuinely shocked. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
You know, his first big bike, he'd saved up hard to buy it, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
he was very proud of it. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
You know, everybody recognised very quickly that | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
he was the innocent victim of a scam and a scam that is all too common. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:30 | |
Owning a stolen bike had knock-on effects. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:37 | |
I was worried, cos I had to ride it back. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:39 | |
I didn't know if anything was going to go wrong, | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
whether it was going to fail, whether it was going to fall apart. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
I had the girlfriend on the back, which was worse. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
The risk was higher. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
This bike had been built by a thief. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:50 | |
He was quite worried that potentially | 0:26:50 | 0:26:52 | |
he and his girlfriend were riding home on a deathtrap. | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
When these bikes are put together as cloned vehicles, | 0:26:55 | 0:26:57 | |
the people building them are not mechanics, they're bike thieves. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:02 | |
You know, would you trust a bike thief to build your bike? | 0:27:02 | 0:27:05 | |
Kurt was left in limbo while the investigation carried on. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:07 | |
It was several weeks before the police | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
and insurance companies came to a decision. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:12 | |
I was in contact with the police for possibly five to six weeks, | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
maybe longer, constantly e-mailing each other. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
I had a police officer come round to check the bike itself. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
It was quickly established that he was innocent, | 0:27:21 | 0:27:23 | |
he had bought it in good faith, he'd done as much as he could, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
reasonably, to check that it was stolen. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
Kurt kept his pride and joy, but it's never felt quite the same. | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
I was happy when I got told I could keep the bike, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:35 | |
but I wasn't 100% with the bike itself in the end. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:39 | |
I was more worried about the safety of it. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:44 | |
I've ridden it three times over the last five months. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:46 | |
I haven't wanted to ride it as much. The love's gone. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:49 | |
I feel unsafe sometimes on it. Insecure. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
The experience has definitely ruined that bike for me. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
I do want another bike, I do love bikes, but the R6 is now ruined. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
I think Kurt's experience does highlight to anybody looking | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
to buy a used bike that it is a bit of a minefield. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
You need to check everything you possibly can - | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
engine number, frame number, registration number, HPI check, | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
and make sure they all match. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
If they don't, walk away. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:18 |