Rise in theft of materials from construction sites highlighted as Police Scotland JCB visits Inverness
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A noticeable peak in theft of materials from construction sites over the festive period when sites were closed has been highlighted at an event in Inverness.
A campaign, featuring a Police Scotland liveried JCB 3CX, is visiting the Highland capital today in a bid to tackle plant and fuel theft across Scotland.
Tradespeople and plant owners are being urged to report suspicious activity as criminals, often highly-organised gangs, will spend a period of weeks scoping out a target.
Police Scotland’s Rural and Acquisitive Crime Unit has been working with the Scottish Plant Owners Association to tackle plant and fuel theft across Scotland as part of the campaign launched in May 2023.
Today, it is at Highland Industrial Supplies in the Longman Industrial Estate to provide free advice.
The biggest trend currently is fuel theft, the theft of trailers and the theft of tools from work vans which are often parked at the homes of tradespeople when the theft occurs.
There was also a noticeable peak in theft of materials from construction sites over the festive period when sites were closed.
There has already been a steady flow of tradespeople and plant owners at the day-long Inverness event inquiring about measures they can take to safeguard their property and taking away information to sign up to Construction Watch, a free service and part of Neighbourhood Watch.
It is estimated that more than 100 people will have taken advantage of the free advice by the end of today.
In Inverness and the rest of the Highlands, reporting of crime is generally good but Police Scotland is appealing to tradespeople and plant owners to also report suspicious activity by calling 101 or using Crimestoppers.
People signing up to Construction Watch will receive alerts and actionable advice and measures to take if acquisitive crime has taken place recently.
The police map crime in Scotland and can spot trends including organised gangs moving from region to region which will trigger an alert to all registered users.
Police Scotland is also advising people to invest in suitable security and take into account the value of property most likely to be targeted by criminals.
It says CCTV, padlocks, security lighting and marking-up tools with DNA kits are among the measures which can deter criminals.
