A RISE in car crime in Tayside is largely due to the theft of satellite navigation systems, Chief Constable John Vine explained yesterday.

Addressing a meeting of the Tayside Joint Police Board in Perth, Mr Vine reported that in most categories of crime—including serious incidents—there had been a reduction in the number of reports.

However, with regard to vehicle crime the trend was up with 1052 vehicle reported crimes for April to September compared to 999 crimes for the same period the year before.

“The vast majority of vehicle crime relates to items being stolen from vehicles,” said Mr Vine.

“There continues to be a trend towards theft of portable satellite navigation systems as these are items normally on prominent display within vehicles.”

Mr Vine called on motorists to be vigilant but pointed out that thieves were even looking for sucker marks on windscreens to see if a motorist had such a device, then breaking in on the assumption that it would be in the glove compartment.

Councillor Lewis Simpson, a keen advocate of cycling, said he welcomed the use of cycle patrol officers which Mr Vine described in his report as “a highly visible, approachable presence.”

He wondered how seriously such initiatives were taken and asked for the increased fitness of the officers involved, the reduction in pollution and the use in crime detection of cycle officers to be highlighted.

“This is not a publicity stunt, it is about good policing,” Mr Vine assured the meeting in the council chambers.

He said that not only did they have 59 trained cycle officers, many other policemen and women had taken advantage of a cycle purchase scheme to use bikes to travel to work.

With regard to crime detection it had been found that the “silent approach” of an officer on a bike bore dividends and the use of cycle-mounted cameras had helped in securing evidence for presecution.

The stress felt by police staff coping with the massive volume of calls from the public was touched on by Mr Vine, who said that they had engaged more staff for peak times in order to alleviate the pressure.

Tayside Police received nearly half a million (485,000) calls from the public in 2006/2007 and spent £3 million managing them, said Mr Vine.

Of the calls received, 10% were 999 calls.

“At present 11% of the force communication centre dispatchers are police officers, this figure is the second lowest in Scotland.

“This reflects the force’s commitment to deploying more officers into communities and away from posts which can be carried out by police staff.”