0:00:02 > 0:00:05Thieves will steal our cars, our valuables,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09just about anything they can get their hands on.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13To cut down on crime and anti-social behaviour,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17the police are using new tactics when the bad guys get caught in the act.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19They're launching covert operations...
0:00:19 > 0:00:22'Keep pretending you're talking on the phone for a bit longer, OK?'
0:00:22 > 0:00:24..and setting clever traps...
0:00:24 > 0:00:27'The laptop he's about to steal is equipped with a tracking device.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32..that deliver unsuspecting crooks right into their hands.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36And there are ways that we the public and local businesses can fight back,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39with some tricks of our own.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41'I wasn't going to sit back and let them do this.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43'I know what you look like and I know who you are.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'We've caught you and we're sending you down.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50So anyone who's up to no good had better think twice.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52They might just get caught red-handed.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03On Caught Red Handed today,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06in Birmingham, a gang of housebreakers bust into a house
0:01:06 > 0:01:11but the cops are watching and listening to their every move.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14There's four or five cars-worth of police officers outside.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15They're completely surrounded.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Also today, garage raiders make a run for it,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21unaware that they're being watched.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23If it hadn't been for my television cameras,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27this would have been a crime that would have never been detected.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31And a thief who's extremely pleased with himself after stealing a car.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33LAUGHING
0:01:33 > 0:01:36But the joke's about to be on him.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53In north Birmingham, just gone 11:00pm,
0:01:53 > 0:01:54a door smashes.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Three hooded figures enter and start poking around.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11This house is in an area where properties have been systematically burgled.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Tonight, these three have picked the wrong house to break into.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25The district of Erdington was being blighted by burglary.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Faced with solving this problem was Inspector Dave Keen and his team.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34We were suffering probably two or three burglaries each day
0:02:34 > 0:02:37in what was a particularly tight, small area.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39It's a horrendous crime to suffer.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42I've been a victim of burglary in the past myself
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and it does really shatter that experience for you,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47of feeling safe at home.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52A feeling that Paul and Kelly Tolin know only too well.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Returning to their home in Rugby after picking up her son, Cole,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59from school, Kelly found they'd been burgled.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01The bedroom had been ransacked, and the whole house,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04the TV in the front room, numerous items had been taken.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07And then it hit me. It was a break-in.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Everything had just been swiped at and strewn across the floor.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14My jewellery box had been taken, which had wedding jewellery in,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18of sentimental value, my child's first teeth, a lock of hair.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21But the worst of all was the discovery that the robbers had
0:03:21 > 0:03:25stolen their 11-week-old female bulldog puppy, Charley.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28The first thought that entered my head was,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30as we'd only had a puppy two weeks ago,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I looked through the window, in her crate, and she wasn't there.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Absolutely distraught.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40To comprehend, to think that someone could take her,
0:03:40 > 0:03:41it absolutely broke me.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Break-ins like the Tolins were reaching epidemic levels in the suburb of Erdington.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50And we knew we had to do something about it.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Dave and his fellow officers from the West Midlands Police
0:03:53 > 0:03:57decided to try a different tactic that was working elsewhere.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59The capture house.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05A property that's designed to bait a thief by being left
0:04:05 > 0:04:09apparently unattended and full of highly nickable goodies.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12History tells us that criminals will return
0:04:12 > 0:04:14to the same road more than once.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16The council found Dave and his team an empty house
0:04:16 > 0:04:19in the heart of the problem area.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21They fitted it with an array of small hidden cameras,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24designed to be triggered by any motion.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Each time that sensor is activated, then it will send a text message.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33So you get a series of text messages and straightaway you know there's something going on.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The fantastic thing about it, from the phone,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38you're able then to dial direct to the camera,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41so I can see straightaway what's going on in the house.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45And he doesn't have to wait long.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48A few nights later, there's a smash at the door.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56With added sound.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59INDISTINCT CONVERSATION
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- There's £50 here. - Yeah, there is pounds.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13That's a penny.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18By leaving around various valuables,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21the police hope that the crooks are distracted long enough
0:05:21 > 0:05:23for them to reach the house in time.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39When the alert comes in, it pings it to me at home.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I obviously carry the phone with me, as do other people.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45It is really odd to be watching a crime in progress,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48in the comfort of your own home.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Believing they've found a teenage thieves' treasure trove...
0:05:53 > 0:05:56..this trio are in no hurry to leave.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04'What's nice is they've got no idea we're on our way.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05'Straight to the top of the stairs,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07'just to see what else there is to steal.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Blissfully unaware that by now police units are silently
0:06:11 > 0:06:15assembling outside, the thieves methodically search every corner.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17This camera's so well disguised,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20you'll never know that you're in a police house.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Whatever they were going to spend the money on tomorrow,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35their plans are about to change.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37They're leaving now, out the front door,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39thinking they've got away with it.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43And right into the hands of the police. Lads, you're nicked.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46Caught with their hands full,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49the three teenagers were found guilty of burglary.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56As they were juveniles, they were each given suspended jail sentences.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01He isn't getting away with it. Because we know who they are.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05They're on our radar. In fact, you know, they may be out and about
0:07:05 > 0:07:08but they're not free, really, they're being monitored by us.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And word got around.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16After the capture house was successful, we had no crimes
0:07:16 > 0:07:20reported in that particular area of any nature for two weeks.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It's a huge impact and you can see the message that it sends out.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28It puts the fear back onto the criminal rather than on the householder or the victim.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And remember Charley, the Tolin family's stolen puppy?
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Well, the family, like the police,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39harnessed the power of modern technology.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41They launched a huge "Find Charley" crusade.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45We had a Facebook campaign,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47And then my husband did a Twitter campaign.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48We were really successful, actually,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52and had thousands and thousands of people following us and helping us.
0:07:52 > 0:07:53And it worked.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Someone had spotted her outside a school in Birmingham.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59The police had been contacted and they scanned her,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02because she is micro-chipped, and she came up as stolen.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06My breeder's details and my name are on the chip for Charley.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09I then went to the police station and I got her back.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Now it's not just capture houses the police use, as in Erdington.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26On Caught Red Handed, we're seeing bait
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and capture operations of all sorts.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Nowadays police are using bait bikes, capture laptops,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36even bait cable drums.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39It's a new trend and it's catching a lot of criminals.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43But most importantly, we are there to put the fear
0:08:43 > 0:08:45of being caught in their mind.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Can they be sure the car they're breaking into is not a bait car
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and the bicycle they're stealing is not a bait bicycle?
0:08:52 > 0:08:54It's opportunity for us to gain evidence
0:08:54 > 0:08:57to be able to bring the offenders to justice.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02I can't put a price on the value of bait operations.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06And it's not just the police using a bit of cleverness to catch criminals.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08It's people like you and me too.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18A sleepy village in Suffolk.
0:09:18 > 0:09:24Population, around 600. Crime - virtually non-existent.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28Unless you live just outside on the main road, that is.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Paulo and John's home has received so much criminal attention,
0:09:32 > 0:09:37that they could be forgiven for thinking it was listed in some sort of thieves' travel guide.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44To protect themselves, they've taken some drastic measures
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and ended up capturing these burglars in the act.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52This has been an ongoing problem.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56About ten years ago, somebody had broken into the house through a
0:09:56 > 0:10:01rear window and stolen all my cheque books and credit cards, et cetera.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Some years later, when we were on holiday, the garage was broken into
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and all my garden equipment and machinery was stolen.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11And then there was Paulo's motor.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15That went missing while he was inside playing the piano.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17I was practising and John says, "Where is your car?"
0:10:17 > 0:10:20I said, "What do you mean? It's parked in the usual place."
0:10:20 > 0:10:22He said, "No, it's not." Ha-ha!
0:10:23 > 0:10:26So I came outside and my car had vanished!
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And they came in, they drove their own car in here,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33they hot-wired my car, drove it off,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37and then they used it in an armed robbery that same night.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39And they were armed!
0:10:39 > 0:10:43If that wasn't enough, in between these events, there was also
0:10:43 > 0:10:47a steady stream of unsavoury characters attracted to the premises.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51At various times, we found people in the garage
0:10:51 > 0:10:52or walking around the back.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56They just seemed to wander in and poke around at will.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59I felt a bit threatened, I think. So I wasn't very happy.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02So I decided to do something about it, you know,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05the least you can do is take a photograph of them.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10John and Paulo felt like they needed an extra pair of eyes
0:11:10 > 0:11:13so they bought some.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Scouring the second-hand surveillance market found them
0:11:15 > 0:11:18a decent set of cameras.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20This was quite an interesting project for us
0:11:20 > 0:11:23because I'm a plumbing and heating engineer myself
0:11:23 > 0:11:26and I often deal with electrical things, and Paulo, my partner,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30he's very good with software and computer systems.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34We decided to have three cameras to begin with.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36To make installation easier,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39the cameras wirelessly connect to a computer.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40If anyone moves,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45then it gets recorded onto the hard drive of the computer.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Though nature rarely sits still.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50You have trees moving in the wind and things like that,
0:11:50 > 0:11:55so you have to blank. It's blanked. So the movement won't get recorded.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59But if anyone walks here, it will get recorded.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Just a few months after this system is installed, it proves its worth.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08John and Paulo had popped into town.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11We'd only been gone for 40 minutes.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15When we came back, I went to get something from the garage.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I noticed as I arrived in here that the planer down there
0:12:18 > 0:12:20was on the floor,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and it shouldn't be, because it lives in the shelves over there.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28So I went to pick it up like this, to put it back on the shelf,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32and that's when I noticed all the cables, which I normally keep here,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36were all completely missing and these shelves were empty.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41And the motion detection recorder shows exactly what's been
0:12:41 > 0:12:42happening in their absence.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47A truck parks up at the bottom of the drive
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and a man walks up to the house to see if anybody's in.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55On return, the open door to the shed catches his eye.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01After a quick inspection, he calls his mate over and so begins
0:13:01 > 0:13:05a robbers' relay, as the pair quickly grab as much as they can.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10I thought, that should be on our cameras,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12but I never expected it would be, somehow,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17until we played it back, and then all these empty scenes were full
0:13:17 > 0:13:20of these two people, taking all the stuff.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- It's quite exciting, wasn't it?! - It was kind of surreal, really.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29But it was horrible as well, people invading your privacy like that.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Even as he watched his plumbing supplies
0:13:33 > 0:13:37being plundered, there was a sense of satisfaction for John.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40I remember feeling rather pleased with myself.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I thought, yes, you people, in the past you've come here
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and broken into my house, you've stolen my things
0:13:48 > 0:13:52and you've had the privilege of anonymity, which you didn't deserve.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55This time, you don't have that because I know what you
0:13:55 > 0:13:58look like and they know who you are, or I will eventually.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01They contact the local police and hand over this footage.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04The pictures circulate to forces nationwide.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10Eventually, this man is identified by Essex police and charged with theft.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15He was given a 120-hour community order
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and made to pay £300 compensation to John.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24The other guy remains at large, so if he you see him,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26don't let him near your garage!
0:14:26 > 0:14:29If it hadn't been for my television cameras,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32this would have been a crime that would never have been detected.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Now that the cameras are in place, I feel much more secure.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39I know that if anything happens that I'm not aware of at the time,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42it will be there on record.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45And the robbery isn't the only transgression
0:14:45 > 0:14:47caught on the motion picture cameras.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50There's a cat that likes my cat and he comes every night.
0:14:50 > 0:14:51They meet up! Ha-ha!
0:14:53 > 0:14:55They have a cat party!
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Caught in the act, eh?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Still to come on today's Caught Red Handed,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07the battle against the bag snatchers.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08You can see the bag over the foot,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11lifting it up, she's hiding it behind that big bag.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15A fed-up bar owner comes up with a high-tech solution.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19And this rose rustler gets busted by an angry gardener.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Jon the plumber said how much he enjoyed catching his garage thief
0:15:28 > 0:15:31and there is a certain pleasure in seeing a rat get caught in a trap,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33like this next chap.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44In America, this bloke is stealing a car,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46and he's happy about it.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48# Stick 'em up, punk, it's the Fun-loving Criminals. #
0:15:48 > 0:15:49LAUGHTER
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Very happy.
0:15:57 > 0:16:04But what this laughing criminal doesn't realise is that he's stolen a police bait car.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And while he's busy struggling to work the CD player,
0:16:07 > 0:16:10police patrols are closing in on his position.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18A few minutes on and it's game over.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21# Stick 'em up, punk, it's the Fun-loving Criminals. #
0:16:24 > 0:16:26And the police have the last laugh.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35We see a lot of CCTV cameras around nowadays,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38guarding people's homes and gardens.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39Altogether on the streets,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43there are over a million cameras with their eyes wide open.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45It's a trade-off, isn't it, with CCTV?
0:16:45 > 0:16:47There's obviously a big civil liberties debate,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50people say, "We're being filmed everywhere."
0:16:50 > 0:16:52And the sort of payback from that is if you DO get attacked
0:16:52 > 0:16:55or your bag gets stolen or something gets damaged,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58the system's there to solve the crime.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I think if people see that the CCTV is serving a purpose -
0:17:01 > 0:17:04it's making them safer, it's helping catch criminals,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08then they're far more comfortable about it so think it's right that it's used for that.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16The CCTV camera here catches someone stealing around £1,000 worth of goodies.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27You probably wouldn't have noticed, so let's see it one more time.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29And this time we'll highlight the thief.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39We've just watched him take a woman's bag from the back of her chair.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41We'll see what happens here later.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53In Charing Cross, one man is harnessing the power of the internet
0:17:53 > 0:17:57to fight back against this kind of crime.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Simon Gordon has invented a website designed to help the police
0:18:00 > 0:18:04and public stop thieves running amok in central London.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11You've heard of Facebook, well this is Facewatch,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14a gallery of bag snatchers and pickpockets.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18A sort of anti-social networking if you will.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26Simon needed something to deal with the criminals that were the scourge of his family's bar.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29It's literally straight out of the Dickensian era.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33It's candles, old posters, everything's original.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37But a Dickensian setting brings with it another very Dickensian problem.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38Thieves.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44And in these conditions they don't need to be Artful.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Ever since we've been first open, there have been people coming in,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49taking advantage of the darkness,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51taking advantage of the fact that it's full up.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53And they'll swipe things, as they always have done.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Such as this pair of pickpockets.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59They pick a spot next to an unsuspecting woman, who has her back to them.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04They pretend to chat amongst themselves while one helps
0:19:04 > 0:19:07himself to the contents of her bag.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11He first takes her phone, even checks the make of it!
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And then passes it across to his accomplice under the table.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18This sort of thing was rife when Simon and his manager, Gerard,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22took over the full running of the bar in 2003.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26At the beginning, the first three years it was very bad.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Every year it was going up and going up.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32We had around five, six thefts a week.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35My aim is if people down here, this should feel safe.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38You have a couple of glasses of wine
0:19:38 > 0:19:40and forget that you've got your bag on the back of your chair,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43but that shouldn't matter.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48I remember this lovely young lady who was working, after school,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52you know, it was her first job, her first pay, cash,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and unfortunately it was gone. Someone stole it.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01And she was in tears, she really, she really broke my heart.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03It's not just the money.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Nowadays, with the amount of things people carry in their bag,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09it can feel as though your whole world has been taken from you.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12As Gemma here found out, when, having a drink with a friend,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16her bag was lifted off the back of her chair.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Straightaway, that feeling hit me,
0:20:19 > 0:20:24that I couldn't get home, because my Oyster card had gone,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I couldn't get in because my keys are gone,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I couldn't pay for a travel card to get home because my wallet had gone.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36My iPad was gone so I couldn't communicate with anybody.
0:20:36 > 0:20:43It's not only stealing a bag, it's stealing part of yourself, to be honest.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46The problem was that too many of these bag thieves
0:20:46 > 0:20:47were remaining on the streets.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51They've been unafraid of the old CCTV systems
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and so have felt free to steal from bars
0:20:53 > 0:20:56when they should have been behind them.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I suddenly realised that whenever we reported a crime to the police,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04they used to have to come down and pick up a disk and take it away and go through all this footage.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08And there was a lot of footage, and most of it was dark and grainy.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Faced with the task of watching it all,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Detective Chief Inspector Mike Neville and his fellow officers
0:21:14 > 0:21:16at New Scotland Yard.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Can you imagine trying to sift through an hour of footage
0:21:19 > 0:21:23trying to find, say, a bag theft? If somebody's attacked, it's very obvious when it happened
0:21:23 > 0:21:26but when somebody does a sneaky thing like a handbag theft or
0:21:26 > 0:21:28a laptop theft on a phone theft,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30often you can't see when it happened.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32So it would take a lot of time to do that,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34a lot of police time to do that.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Nothing was getting solved so I thought, actually,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40as a business we should be trying to do more to help the police.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42So Simon invented this website.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44You log in to it and you report the crime.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47You have to be a business, that's the only thing.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50It produces an automatic witness statement and then you can
0:21:50 > 0:21:53upload CCTV and you press the button, it goes to the police.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54And every time the police do anything,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56you get an e-mail back telling you what's going on,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59so it's really good for victims and for businesses
0:21:59 > 0:22:02because you know what's happening with your crime.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Simon's non-profit website allows businesses to recognise
0:22:06 > 0:22:11suspected thieves as they go from venue to venue.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14To help this, he wanted improved image quality,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18so he fitted his bar with a state of the art surveillance system,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22manned by Head of Security, Bryan Speak, and his team.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25The new megapixel cameras, we can actually zoom in
0:22:25 > 0:22:27and capture quite a lot of detail,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30we can zoom right in and see what they're doing with their hands.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32The cameras are really clear.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35If a crime is reported by a customer and is missed at the time,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40the team spool back to find the exact moment the theft took place,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44and then put the crucial footage up on the website
0:22:44 > 0:22:46for the police to investigate.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48By sharing the images with other venues,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52they can also be on their guard and the net closes in on the crook.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55The same woman did three crimes in Gordon's Wine Bar.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00This one she did very clearly shows how easy it is to be fooled,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03to have your stuff taken.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06You just wouldn't be thinking of what's going on.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09So this lady, there's a lady sitting here,
0:23:09 > 0:23:14and the thief is standing behind her,
0:23:14 > 0:23:19and if you watch her right foot, you can see the bag over the foot.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22She's lifting it up, and again,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26she's hiding it behind that big bag. So this is how they always do it.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33It's audacious, and even the thief blows her cheeks out as she walks away.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36But her relief is short-lived.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39She was caught and jailed for 12 months.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45And as for the pair of pickpockets we saw earlier,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48before Simon's new system they probably would have got away
0:23:48 > 0:23:50with stealing a woman's possessions.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53But this time they're going nowhere.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56A sharp-eyed camera operator sees the whole thing
0:23:56 > 0:24:01and they're intercepted at the stairs by a member of the security team.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The customer's phone, wallet and mp3 player are found and returned to her.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07And for these two? A wait in the back room
0:24:07 > 0:24:09until the police come to arrest them.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16Gemma's bag snatcher got away on the night. But it was caught on camera.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It was this footage you saw earlier.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Put up online, it allowed Gemma and the police
0:24:22 > 0:24:25to see the crime against her.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29This is Gemma. This is her bag. keep your eye on it.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36He's walked by me to look and tried to take it the minute I sat down
0:24:36 > 0:24:38but didn't feel that he could get away with it,
0:24:38 > 0:24:43and then he walks straight back and I'm more engaged in conversation,
0:24:43 > 0:24:45and he just flicks it off my chair.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Literally within seconds of me sitting down.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51He was obviously very good at it because he was very well-dressed.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54He made it look effortless.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57And he thought he'd got away with the crime,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02but this bag snatcher's face is on Simon's website.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06So when he comes back for more, the staff know exactly who he is.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10He came in, it was just a case of going out and detaining him.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12He was then arrested by the police.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15He tried to deny it, but he's obviously been proven guilty
0:25:15 > 0:25:18because he's now in prison for three months.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21It's just good to think that the system works.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23From start to finish, in my case.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26I know I didn't get my things back,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28but it's good to know that the people cared enough
0:25:28 > 0:25:32to see it through right to the end. And that he got charged.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35In the war against thieves,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Simon's website is proving to be an invaluable weapon,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41identifying them quickly.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44What would have taken weeks, can take hours.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49It's a real deterrent. It reduced crime in Gordon's very dramatically.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52We have had a number of arrests.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Lots of criminals, when they see themselves on CCTV, plead guilty.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56Now that saves a lot of money.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Most importantly, it often stops the victim having to go to court
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and give evidence. It saves them that additional trauma as well.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07It's about helping people to stop crime from happening
0:26:07 > 0:26:12in the first place. I really believe that if you can stop people enough,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16eventually they'll give up. I hope that'll happen.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19We've been trying for too long using the old methods
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and I think we can change things.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33And finally, in Wrexham, North Wales,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37roses are red, violets are blue, er, I can't be bothered to buy me own,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39so I'm going to steal yours off you.
0:26:40 > 0:26:46A proud gardener catches this petal pincher on CCTV after noticing
0:26:46 > 0:26:50that his front garden mysteriously became sparser overnight.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54And the more he checks his footage, the more rose rustlers he finds,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58even in broad daylight.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Most women like to receive flowers,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02but this lady takes the direct approach,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05barely taking time out from her phone conversation
0:27:05 > 0:27:08to massacre someone else's plants.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11"Ooh, I like the look of this one as well. Don't mind if I do."
0:27:11 > 0:27:14But this garden's owner DID mind.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Not wanting to resort to wrapping his bouquets in barbed wire,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23he decides to publicly shame this pre-meditated action,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25putting the video online.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Over 20,000 hits later,
0:27:28 > 0:27:33the local community recognises the man and dobs him in to the gardener.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37But he'd had his fun and needed no more retribution.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40For the culprit, however, life was less rosy.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44We're told he's changed his appearance to avoid being recognised
0:27:44 > 0:27:46as the Wrexham rose robber!
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Let's hope he's changed his ways too!
0:27:52 > 0:27:54That's it for today. Join us next time
0:27:54 > 0:27:57when the police and the public catch more criminals red-handed.