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C-Charge blamed for car crime rise
THE CONGESTION charge hike is being blamed for a sudden rise in car crime.
Islington police say the number of vehicles being broken into around the edge of the zone, which divides Islington along City Road and Pentonville Road, has climbed sharply in recent months.
Laptops, palm pilots and other costly electrical items are being taken from the cars - even if hidden in the boot.
And officers believe the crimewave is being caused by the congestion charge rising from £5-a-day to £8-a-day.
Detective superintendent Martin Rusling said: "People who never used to park along the congestion charge border are now because they want to avoid paying the £8 charge.
"Commuters prefer to travel by Tube and leave their cars on a meter outside the zone. A high proportion of the cars being left along the border are new and there is often more to steal from them.
"The people who are committing these crimes have also found new ways of detecting cars with electrical goods inside."
Thieves are using Bluetooth technology to track down cars with the richest pickings.
Any electrical item left on standby, instead of being properly switched off, can be detected by walking near the vehicle with a mobile phone which picks up Bluetooth signals.
It takes just a few minutes for the thief to smash the window and gain access to the boot where the goods are hidden out of sight.
Up to three cars are broken into using this method each day and police say the crime is very hard to clampdown on.
Mr Rusling added: "If people leave their electrical goods on standby and it has Bluetooth technology it becomes detectable.
"The goods can be very small but can fetch a lot of money when resold. We are urging drivers to be aware and always turn their equipment off properly.
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