Cameras will curtail spike in petrol theft
The reaction follows a report in the Coventry Telegraph detailing the increase in the number of incidents involving petrol theft in the Midlands, with new figures recently released by authorities highlighting the severity of the situation. Petrol theft – commonly referred to as bilking – occurs at least once daily in Coventry according to police. Statistics show that over a two-year period there have been 1,376 reported incidents, something that shows new measures to increase security are not ha
While CCTV footage is regularly released to the public by the authorities, the lack of high-definition cameras and fully-functioning Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) software makes it extremely difficult for any arrests to be made on a regular basis. In order for this to change, independent bodies such as the Petrol Retailers Association have called for Home Secretary Theresa May to look into the issue, but until this occurs it is unlikely the problem will cease.
A spokesperson for AlertSystems, market leaders in business security solutions, has released a statement following the report. “As we can see with the recurrence of petrol theft incidents in Coventry and the surrounding areas, there needs to be a harder line adopted by garages in order to see a marked improvement in these statistics.
“The advent of clear, concise CCTV recordings through high-definition cameras and the fact that ANPR is a technology that is becoming more and more affordable means that there are methods readily available to tackle the thieves. Retailers are reluctant to wholly rely on pre-pay pumps due to the adverse effect they may have on business, so investment in alternative strands of technology – ones that are proven to improve security in garage forecourts – must be considered.”
AlertSystems manage and maintain thousands of commercial security installations throughout the UK and are specialists in providing business security solutions. Offering professional service and a complete range of security services such as monitored alarm systems, Automatic Number Plate Recognition and Avigilon CCTV security systems, AlertSystems provides effective and reliable solutions to security problems.