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New Specialist Police Unit targets machinery theft

The theft of equipment from construction sites and farms has a significant impact on the businesses targeted from both the loss and replacement of the equipment taken, in addition to the cost of temporarily reduced activity and downtime within these sectors.

The launch of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) owned Official CESAR Scheme (www.cesarscheme.org) back in 2007, has had a major impact on criminality across both sectors, driving down theft significantly for machinery brands that have adopted the Scheme. Now, with the launch of a new Police Unit, CESAR will have an ally in its fight against this type of crime.

The newly established dedicated Agricultural and Construction Equipment (ACE) specialist police unit will be managed and operated within Opal, which is the national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime (SOAC) across the UK. Opal was established in April 2019 under the governance of DCC Amanda Blakeman, the national police lead for acquisitive crime. The unit has ten intelligence staff, including intelligence analysts and researchers, alongside police officers, under the day-to-day lead of Detective Superintendent Neil Austin.

The unit will focus on the offences committed by organised crime groups which are part of a series and involve cross border offending. By developing proactive working relationships with law enforcement, partner and business agencies the ACE Unit will work to reduce the theft of stolen plant and agricultural equipment and maximise the recovery of stolen equipment, both nationally and internationally.

Officers from ACE will work to develop, collate and co-ordinate intelligence from a variety of sources to identify and disrupt organised criminality and target those involved in these thefts, also identify any current and emerging crime trends and threats. The reason ACE was established on the back of Opal is because the unit already has a foothold nationally and intelligence can be shared between the forces. The ACE national intelligence hub team will work closely with the industry, developing positive working relationships to support and promote schemes such as CESAR to prevent theft and maximise the recovery of stolen equipment.

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