Essex Police hits record number of stolen vehicles recovered

The force’s specialist Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit (SVIU) recovered 626 stolen vehicles or parts of stolen vehicles – a 30 per cent increase on 2021.

The value of those vehicles is estimated to be an incredible £14m.

Dedicated officers PC Paul Gerrish and PC Phil Pentelow frequently seize stolen cars within hours of them being taken, examine them, and use the intelligence they have gathered to hunt down other missing vehicles.On the case - PC Phil Pentelow and PC Paul Gerrish of the SVIU (Image: Essex Police)

The team's third member is analyst Hannah Gerrish, who studies the thefts to look for patterns of offending.

“Every year, we are tracking down more stolen vehicles and building up a bigger intelligence picture,” said PC Paul Gerrish.

“We are creating a hostile environment for car thieves and causing significant disruption for organised criminal gangs. We know what to look for and we know how and where they operate.

“Our work is definitely having an impact and it’s incredibly satisfying for us as a team to be able to return a stolen vehicle to its owner when they thought there was probably little or no chance of them seeing their car or van again.”

The unit also worked on 34 investigations into chop shops – the places stolen cars are stripped of their parts.

The most valuable vehicle the team discovered this year came in January when they searched a shipping container that was heading to Dubai from the London Gateway Port in Thurrock.

This Rolls-Royce Dawn reported stolen from London was recovered from a shipping container (Image: Essex Police)

Inside they found a Rolls-Royce Dawn that had been stolen in London. The missing car had recently cost its owner £350,000 and had been stashed alongside parts of eight stolen Range Rovers.

The team’s work has evolved to become increasingly intelligence-led with the team targeting the people and places they believe are most likely to produce results.

“Car thefts build into a bigger network of criminality,” said analyst Hannah Gerrish.

“That’s we try to build a picture of what we’re seeing and hearing. It’s all about joining the dots. Our intel is primarily self-generated. Something that may seem insignificant when it’s reported might trigger a lightbulb moment for us.”