Battery Thefts

[Wildfuzz]

Police have received further reports of batteries being either stolen/attempted to be stolen in the last few days. 

Batteries from electric fences, traffic lights and vehicles have all been targeted at locations in Fakenham, Erpingham and Felmingham.

PC Pete Davison, North Norfolk Engagement Officer commented “simply spraying batteries florescent pink will make them unattractive to thieves” other Crime Prevention measures such as postcoding items or using products like Selecta DNA or Smartwater are also encouraged.

Further Crime Prevention advice can be found on our website

Thank you

North Norfolk Police

 

 

My thoughts are that boats and yards would be an easy target, there have been a lot taken recently from farms, stables, outbuildings even temporary traffic lights, please take whatever steps to prevent this happening to you.

 

S.

[Bound2Please]

Thanks for the warning Stuart, fluorescent pink certainly makes them undesirable unless your a girly of course... would the fluorescent pink attract girly thieves though.

Being serious again now, its some thing I never thought about until now battery security but will from now on.

Charlie

[riyadhcrew]

Being involved with the investigation of the theft of batteries in a past life, I can add this:

The lead content of a 12V 100amph battery is worth much more, if it is out of the battery and many of the thieves would smash open the battery to get it. Our worry at the time was - where is all the acid going????

[Bound2Please]

2 minutes ago, riyadhcrew said:

Being involved with the investigation of the theft of batteries in a past life, I can add this:

The lead content of a 12V 100amph battery is worth much more, if it is out of the battery and many of the thieves would smash open the battery to get it. Our worry at the time was - where is all the acid going????

Very good point that Eric, the bilges the river certainly not the get away vehicle

[Wildfuzz]

The theory behind the "girly" pink is that batteries can be identified when taken into scrap yards and as all deliveries are recorded it may give a lead (not lead) into who is weighing them in. Another good deterrent is to burn your initials, or house number and postcode into the top with a soldering iron. Carefully though.....

[Baitrunner]

A unusual thing to steal that I heard of a few years ago when it happened to a relative on the edges of London. was stealing catalytic converters from vans.

This happened at night in a busy side road.  

The cost of the cat made them very saleable to your average white van owner compared to a new one. Or failing that the materials in them where worth some money. Easy to slid under a van as well. apparently 4x4s were targeted as well. 

The bigger problem was the damage they caused cutting it off. 

[Wildfuzz]

Yes this was a big problem last year with literally hundreds being stolen, they contain precious metals and very easy to remove with plumbers pipe cutters.

[thingamybob]

Unfortunately batteries are very easy to steal and to dispose of for cash.

I am one of those sort of people who change my own batteries on my car. Over a few years I accumulated three dead batteries in my workshop and decided to get a few bob for them. Not far from me there is a scrap company who gave me a princely £20.50 for all three. All they wanted was ID, my address and my car number.

No wonder batteries disappear. My transaction was all above board but we all know how easy it is to forge ID etc. Its easy money for scumbags.

[ChrisB]

I was told today that golfing buggies  are really being hit hard including Barnham Broom.

[thingamybob]

It appears that anything that is not bolted down and locked up is fair game.

 

[brandenjg]

53 minutes ago, thingamybob said:

It appears that anything that is not bolted down and locked up is fair game.

 

Sounds like the area I used to live, I had a roll of artificial grass stolen while I was taking the other roll into the garden. I couldn't of been anymore than 30-45 seconds.

[Hylander]

11 hours ago, brandenjg said:

Sounds like the area I used to live, I had a roll of artificial grass stolen while I was taking the other roll into the garden. I couldn't of been anymore than 30-45 seconds.

Good grief.    I recall once whilst sweeping the yard leaving the broom to go indoors to answer the phone and when I came out the broom had gone.      It does make you wonder it really does.

[thingamybob]

14 hours ago, brandenjg said:

Sounds like the area I used to live, I had a roll of artificial grass stolen while I was taking the other roll into the garden. I couldn't of been anymore than 30-45 seconds.

You should have made a few enquiries around the neighbours,  somebody would be sure to grass on him.

Sorry, could not resist that one.

I'll get my coat. 

[Viking23]

Locks only keep honest people out.

However, siezed locks keep the honest owner out too. BUT not for long.

I went to the boat trailer the other day, to start the prep for selling it, two padlocks had siezed, 15 seconds later, I silently destroyed them and off they came. I had been on youtube, and there was the same padlock, hardened shackle, two basic tools, that you have in your tool box, and neither was a hammer... off they came.

A friend of mine was left stranded on his house roof when some tea leaf stole the ladders whilst he was up there. Worth tying them off at the top, not just for safety lol.

 

[JanetAnne]

Our next door neighbour dismantled his childrens old climbing frame and left it out on the front grass verge for a passing scrap dealer to collect. It was gone within an hour.

The following week his new washing machine arrived so the old one was duly popped out on the grass and was 'collected'.

That weekend he mowed the said piece of grass, got called in for a phone call leaving the mower running, and yes, you are way ahead of me here...  the mower went missing. 

Anyway, he got a crime number and a lecture from our local bobby who suggested that, in light of the previous 'encouraged' collections he put this one down to being a pratt! 

[Viking23]

Leaving your garage door open when you are washing your car, can also lead to some interest. I always place the car skewed across the garage door, so you can't see in. 

My neighbour and I are quite paranoid, if we see a white van in the area... we slam the garage door shut, after all, they might just make an innocent walk up your drive to ask if you have any scrap, whilst all the time checking what you have. 

I heard somewhere that a house owner was asked if she wanted the cast iron window frames that she had in her garage. The garage was shut, and had been for a while, we can only assume he did a "walk past" earlier in the week.

[Hylander]

That a  joke about shutting the garage door,    Unbeknown to us Google Maps came passed the house and took photos and both ours and the neighbours garage door whilst it was open as we were both having building work done, so the whole world can see what is in our garage at the time about 7 years ago. It has always infuriated me.      They blur out numbers of houses and car number plates surely they should blur our garages as well if open.

[brandenjg]

1 hour ago, Hylander said:

That a  joke about shutting the garage door,    Unbeknown to us Google Maps came passed the house and took photos and both ours and the neighbours garage door whilst it was open as we were both having building work done, so the whole world can see what is in our garage at the time about 7 years ago. It has always infuriated me.      They blur out numbers of houses and car number plates surely they should blur our garages as well if open.

I may be wrong, but I think you can request to have an image blurred on street view

[Hylander]

2 hours ago, brandenjg said:

I may be wrong, but I think you can request to have an image blurred on street view

Really ,  well I will make enquiries because it has always been a bug up my ...... since I first saw the photos.

[Hylander]

I have found the link and tomorrow I will go and try and sort it out.    Thank you.

[Hylander]

Just complete the form etc ,  will let you know how I get on.     I could have done this years ago.   I could kick myself.

[ExUserGone]

I feel ripped off by all this battery theft, the sods never touched the knackered one on my boat so I had to carry it to the car myself, wheres the pikeys when you need them.

I once left two 110ah batteries by my front door for ages thinking they'll soon disappear, not a chance ended up having to take them to the tip myself, but when I left an old boat cooker by the door for someone who wanted spares it had gone before he turned up.

[thingamybob]

18 hours ago, Dilligaf said:

I feel ripped off by all this battery theft, the sods never touched the knackered one on my boat so I had to carry it to the car myself, wheres the pikeys when you need them.

I once left two 110ah batteries by my front door for ages thinking they'll soon disappear, not a chance ended up having to take them to the tip myself, but when I left an old boat cooker by the door for someone who wanted spares it had gone before he turned up.

Why just dump batteries? You can get £6 for an average car battery and a considerable bit more for a large leisure battery. While it can cost petrol money to take a battery to a scrap metal merchant the best idea is that if you know you are going somewhere near to a merchant just put the battery in the boot of your car. Make sure you wedge it up though so it does not fall over.

Incidentally, do not try to smash a battery open just to get the lead. That paste on the plates is highly toxic. If you take a battery to a reputable scrap merchant the whole thing is recycled. The acid is cleaned and recycled and the casing is turned into pellets and used to make new battery cases.

[Hylander]

On 3/26/2017 at 8:40 AM, Hylander said:

Just complete the form etc ,  will let you know how I get on.     I could have done this years ago.   I could kick myself.

Thank you ,  thank you,  I cannot believe after all of this time the garage has been blurred now and no b..ger can see what is in there anymore.     I had no idea you could do this and I really cannot get over how quickly they did it for me.

 

 

[ExUserGone]

Can you ask google maps to put an image of a nicer car in front of your garage?