In the USA and other countries, garages insist on motorists making a pre-payment for the fuel they require before the pump delivers the liquid into their tanks. This is not the case in the UK where garages sell many more products than simply ‘gas’ and are akin to small retail stores, writes Jeff Little.
Owners thus wish to tempt customers inside the store to see their stock and have them increase the value of their purchases to include food stuffs and magazines. This ‘payment after delivery’ philosophy, however, does have a downside and the theft of fuel from garage forecourts costs the industry an estimated £31m per year – a figure which grows annually.
There are two ways in which fuel is taken. The first is referred to as ‘no means of payment’. Some of these incidents are genuine mistakes – people do forget to bring their purses or wallets with them or even forget the pin number on their credit card, many readers will have found themselves in this situation at one time or another. These genuine individuals find a solution and settle their debt the same day, often within hours. Others will not be so honest and will provide false contact details having no genuine intent to pay for the fuel and then disappearing back into the morass of society. The second method is known as ‘making off without payment’ whereby the driver makes no attempt to pay for his or her fuel and simply drives away from the pump with no attempt whatsoever to settle his debt.
ANPR cameras have captured the VRNs of such offenders. Agencies have existed who will liaise with the DVLA who will, for a fee, provide the vehicle keeper’s details to approved agencies and an application can be made through the civil courts to recover the debt plus the legal expenses. This can be a time consuming process and of course the perpetrator escapes criminal sanctions despite having committed theft. This trend is set to worsen as police officer numbers are drastically reduced under austere budgets and the resources will simply not be available to visit the crime scene, sift through the video evidence, trace the owner – who may abide in a different police service’s area of responsibility – and obtain a successful prosecution for the theft of perhaps £120 of fuel – the police have many more urgent challenges such as cyber fraud, child abuse and robberies, not to mention the risk of extremist radicalisation. Many would argue in addition that the police should not be used as a debt collection agency but this ignores the view that theft is theft and is often the start point on a career leading to more serious offences.
But now a company based in Leeds have come up with an innovative and foolproof way of deterring, detecting and recording such events using smart software. The technology is called Forecourt Eye. Not only is the thief’s VRN recorded, but the facial features of the driver is also captured on camera and stored. Should this person and/or the vehicle seek to again illegally obtain fuel at the same garage or another equipped with the Forecourt Eye system, then the operators will be informed by an alarm. The owners then have the option of stopping fuel being delivered by switching off the pump. Alternatively, the theft may be allowed to continue and the evidence recorded to build up a larger case of misdemeanours against the individual.
The clever part is that the evidence can now be bundled together into an electronic data file containing the visual imagery, a simple witness statement and drive off report and sent to the police service electronically. This saves the police even having to visit the scene and collect the evidence and take statements – all that is done by the operator, or more likely by Forecourt Eye themselves who may seek to pursue civil proceedings to recover the debt in parallel with criminal action. Such files will eventually be fast tracked though the courts under a programme known as digitisation of criminal justice system saving mountains of papers and bundles of case files which presently load the CPS, magistrates and solicitors alike.
The system, of course relies on clear and accurate digital imagery and provides a good opportunity to ensure that security suppliers are providing the latest HD cameras and digital video recorders (DVRs) whose price is now competitive with more dated analogue equipment – a very cost effective investment to reduce the £31m. The system can even identify those attempting to disguise their identities or cover their faces, perhaps using hoodies – there is no escape, they will be identified. The criminals may also try to avoid conviction by changing the number plates on their car – again this will be defeated by the technology.
Forecourt Eye is a pragmatic and credible new system which addresses a growing area of criminality in a sensible and helpful manner. It saves police time and effort, it drives up the quality of imagery, it is a deterrent and first offenders can be saved from being sucked into a broader life of crime by prompt and effective follow up action. But that is only the beginning. The system has broader utility for instance in the retail sector where security managers who chose to join the network will be warned should fuel thieves enter their shopping malls. Often fuel theft is only an enabler for criminals with broader intent to move from A to B and commit more serious thefts or robbery. All vehicles have to refuel. The system has the potential, with government cooperation, to detect vehicles which are not taxed or insured and to deny them fuel – no tax, no insurance, no fuel. The number of such vehicles moving on UK roads has, perhaps not surprisingly, risen significantly since the abandonment of paper tax discs. This costs all motorists higher insurance premiums and the risks of being involved in a serious injury road traffic collisions (RTC) with an uninsured driver do not need to be overstated here. Recording the movements of other ‘persons or vehicles of interest’ to the police or security services can also be added to the list of potential capabilities in due course thus adding to national resilience.
For more on the system watch a two-minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzQNegNIRqE call 0333 014 7881 or visit www.forecourteye.com.
