Mobile billboard to increase vehicle crime awareness

Public awareness is key to Ealing Council and Ealing Police's joint blitz on vehicle crime. The campaign continues this week with a five week tour, starting Monday 1st March, of the borough by the Park Smart mobile billboard.

The message is clear, and emblazoned across the twenty foot 'poster on wheels': don't leave valuables on display in your car. Last year in Ealing 5,925 cars were broken into in order to steal objects that were in view.

In partnership with Ealing Police, the council's community safety team has organised the poster tour as part of the Park Smart initiative which began last November to alert residents to this issue. Later in the year posters will be displayed on the backs of buses, and at other sites around the borough.

Councillor Shital Manro, cabinet member for community cohesion, thinks the campaign is a great idea, "We can all become careless from time to time and leave things on the dashboard or back seat of our car. This campaign will remind people that taking a few seconds to cover up their valuables, or take them with them, may save them from being the next victim of vehicle crime."

Borough Commander Martin Bridger of Ealing Borough Police believes the public has a key part to play in crime prevention, "This latest partnership initiative outlines our joint commitment to reducing motor vehicle crime in Ealing Borough. However the public have a role to play too and that is what this campaign is about. Our crime preventative message is simple: keep valuables out of sight whenever you leave your vehicle. The public can also reduce the risk of becoming a victim by making use of secure car parks on the borough or parking in well-lit or residential areas. Remember motor vehicle offenders tend to be opportunistic - don't make yourself an easy target."

The campaign will be funded by an award of £15,000 made to the council by the Government Office for London specifically to combat vehicle crime.

March 4, 2004