QLD Police asking for help with boat theft

[TheRealAndy]

Had a meeting with a keen police officer who wants to get a program up to start tracking boat theft more proactively. He presented and excellent case and asked if I could have a think about how I and the community groups I am involved with could work with the police to help reduce boat theft, and help increase recovery. He also has excellent backing from both his peers and his superiors.


Thought I might put the question out to the forum to get your ideas. As far as I am concerned anything that can reduce the chance of boat theft is a good thing. Also, I know that if my boat got stolen I would like to think the police are doing the best they can to find it.

So if you have any good ideas, or info let me know and I will pass it on. If you don’t want to discuss it in a public forum then send me a PM and I will contact you personally.

[Steeler]

Perhaps Steve could allow them access to this site to post pics and relevant details ie rego numbers and the like and perhaps they could even keep us up to date on current hot spots so we can do all we can regarding prevention.

Just my thoughts,but i am a dope

Steeler

[TheRealAndy]

Perhaps Steve could allow them access to this site to post pics and relevant details ie rego numbers and the like and perhaps they could even keep us up to date on current hot spots so we can do all we can regarding prevention.

Just my thoughts,but i am a dope

Steeler

Good call, I might introduce him to Ausfish!

[Lovey80]

Get them to pass a law that says anyone caught in the act of stealing a boat by the owner or neighbour is allowed to be shot/gaffed/stabbed or baseball batted legally :) :) :) Wouldn't take long to stem the flow ;) Similar to my idea of being able to legally shoot flares from a flare gun at people that are sitting in the right lane and not overtaking anyone :)

I should be a law maker I'd be great at it ;)

Wait to you see what I got in store for Bob Brown :)

EDIT: P.S. Mods can we please pretend Easter is over so we can get rid of the Rabbits? Pinhead must be bloody loving this!

Cheers

Chris

[cormorant]

I know club marine used to place photos of all "missing " boats in the magazine at one stage. Trade a boat and boatpoint should do the same - a police listing of stolen boats for the week - send it to all marinas , marine repairers, auctions etc as so often the new unweary purchaser gets a check done.

Police should inform distributer of outboards of all stolen serial numbers - they all have centralised service records of the new technology motors and would simply highlight ones that have been stolen in for service - easy recovery as well.

Police encouraging data dots on boats

Encouraging engraving of boat gear

Hin plates are just to simply attached and not secure - rebirthing a 10 minute job for professionals.

Full interstate communication between police departments , they can't even get full rego details up of trailers.

All jackets and equipment should have boats rego and name on them - makes them worthless to anyone stealing them as at safety chechk they would have to explain - has worked a treat in sail boats where it was a big problem

Actually have photo on Revs site and boat rego so rebirth is a lot harder.


Most marine theft and vandalism isn't reprted as it is under the excess or hassle level and many a broken window at the ramp etc. Marine watch - similar to neighbourhood watch and Ramp watch where police actualy drive through boat ramps woud be a start ( yeah and I mean with their eyes open!)

They could do the basics and their job not just put it in the system as they know it is insured- not as if they have time - may as well just call it in to the police line.

Make it illegal for anyone to transport stolen goods - would make carriers ask for rego papers and ID - Harder to move harder to sell - more chance to get caught. Only a small inconvinience for honest people.

Have a place on both boat and trailer registration that links the usual boat and trailer package with the rego numbers.

On their new number plate recognition cameras they could link trailer and car registered address - if it flags it may be worth pulling over.


Known boat thieves conviction should include a condition that they can't go on teh water for XX years - restrict the ability of the scum to be around boats and boating facilities. Mate not even a seafood waterfrot restruant as far as I am concerned. Last scum cost us about 4k to get teh boat back up to scratch fter insurance

[Chimo]

RA

PM sent

Chimo

[Angla]

Video tracking could be a method. Just like in the malls where people are video recorded except using satellite technology.

Cheers
Chris

[gr hilly]

someone tried to nick my boat a few yrs back but my two cattle dogs chewe'd them up the worst thing about this ,when it went to court i had to pay $120 for the thief's jeans that got shredded but he had a sore bum he could not sit down in court the best insurance does not give you this type of satisfaction

[Vitamin Sea]

someone tried to nick my boat a few yrs back but my two cattle dogs chewe'd them up the worst thing about this ,when it went to court i had to pay $120 for the thief's jeans that got shredded but he had a sore bum he could not sit down in court the best insurance does not give you this type of satisfaction


Love it, classic.

On the serious note, just goes to show how %$#@ing riduculous the laws in this state are, having to pay for new jeans of the crim, spare us all.

[Argle]

someone tried to nick my boat a few yrs back but my two cattle dogs chewe'd them up the worst thing about this ,when it went to court i had to pay $120 for the thief's jeans that got shredded but he had a sore bum he could not sit down in court the best insurance does not give you this type of satisfaction

Hilly I hope you had the poor dogs teeth clened to remove any trace of the VERMIN he chewed on! And followed up with a couple of big bones as a treat!

Cheers
Scott

[FNQCairns]

someone tried to nick my boat a few yrs back but my two cattle dogs chewe'd them up the worst thing about this ,when it went to court i had to pay $120 for the thief's jeans that got shredded but he had a sore bum he could not sit down in court the best insurance does not give you this type of satisfaction

Well there you go! you got victimised because it went to court! how upside down is that!!

If their shoulders are broad enough to do the deed and the deed involves any organisation or frontal lobe activity longer than 5 seconds in this planning then they should in law be give nothing but the most basic of rights.

There is a catch 22 here, raise the stakes and raise the desperation, lots of innocent people (victims) are still alive or still healthy because the stakes all round are not hugely high, even if this is distasteful to most.

Why do baby's die during cop chases...because the stakes are high enough for the runner consider the option worth their while no matter what the result, authority and political regulation is it's own and often the publics biggest enemy...animals first, just ask Darwin.

cheers fnq

[Fatenhappy]

someone tried to nick my boat a few yrs back but my two cattle dogs chewe'd them up the worst thing about this ,when it went to court i had to pay $120 for the thief's jeans that got shredded but he had a sore bum he could not sit down in court the best insurance does not give you this type of satisfaction

I'm slightly off thread content here, but when in Texas last year they were telling me they have had a law in place for the past few years there that enables them to shoot and ask questions later in the confines of their own home or in the defence of their own property .... Got to be happy with that !!

Cheers Greg !!

[bennyboy]

Interestingly enough you can take a boat from QLD and then re register it in NSW without canceling or transfering the registration in QLD.

Now cross border checks would certainly go along way in reducing theft

[FNQCairns]

Bought a car a few months ago, cash, registered, single owner, both times we met him at his parents place, revs check.

I ran the risk of an argument but he gave in pretty fast after a couple of too and fro's (we still had the money) when I asked for a bill of sale outlining fully this sale, licence's, signatures, price, date, vehicle details etc all contained on a simple but legal privately held document.

He was under the impression that registration denotes the be all of legal ownership, I was not.

If people where not so swayed by the drumhead nature of state based regulation and became a little more familiar with basic common law (the only ones originally enacted to protect all without fear or favour), possibly a stolen boat would be that much harder to pass on.

cheers fnq

[Jarrah Jack]

TheRealAndy........Comorant and Steeler covered most of my thinkling on the matter.Just to say I wish you well on this matter..A keen proactive police officer is a rare beast and as his bosses are just as keen, rarer still. So good luck, hopefully something will come of it and the other states will follow.

Why aren't the insurance companies driving this sort of thing????????

[snapersam]

Interestingly enough you can take a boat from QLD and then re register it in NSW without canceling or transfering the registration in QLD.

Now cross border checks would certainly go along way in reducing theft

You are very right ,
I just purchased a boat from Qld 4 weeks ago, drove to mackay ,picked it up and back to NSW.
I was stoped by the police twice on the way for Breath tests, no one bothered to check on the boat behind me, even though i had a NSW plate towing QLD registered boat and trailer, 3 blokes in the car.

Then i went to register it in NSW, and was told because it is from another state I had to get the hull verified, I thought well that is good, some one is checking.

They gave me a list of authorided persons that can verify the HIN, I called one, he is no longer in the busness, the other quoted an amazing price , the third one said $60.00 and will come to me.

He showed up about 2 hrs later, asked for the paerwork, moved around the boat a couple of times check the HN at the transom, didn't bother to check plate in the boat and gave me the ceritificate, took $50.00 no recipts. he didn't seem much of a person that should be checking boats. I don't know where the MAritime find them people and trust them to do the most important part of the registration.

As you said earlier the boat and trailer were still registered in QLd under the previous owner.

By the way my boat was stolen 2 weeks later before I had a chance to use it. ref to help needed for stolen boat under lost and found (allison vision).

Sorry for saying too much , but I am still very bitter about the whall thing.

[FNQCairns]

TheRealAndy........Comorant and Steeler covered most of my thinkling on the matter.Just to say I wish you well on this matter..A keen proactive police officer is a rare beast and as his bosses are just as keen, rarer still. So good luck, hopefully something will come of it and the other states will follow.

Why aren't the insurance companies driving this sort of thing????????

Because believe it or not that would amount to almost an altruistic act, fear and powerlessness means bigger profits so is far from in an insurance company's best business interest or a governments for that matter but for differing reasons.

cheers fnq

[snapersam]

Had a meeting with a keen police officer who wants to get a program up to start tracking boat theft more proactively. He presented and excellent case and asked if I could have a think about how I and the community groups I am involved with could work with the police to help reduce boat theft, and help increase recovery. He also has excellent backing from both his peers and his superiors.


Thought I might put the question out to the forum to get your ideas. As far as I am concerned anything that can reduce the chance of boat theft is a good thing. Also, I know that if my boat got stolen I would like to think the police are doing the best they can to find it.

So if you have any good ideas, or info let me know and I will pass it on. If you don’t want to discuss it in a public forum then send me a PM and I will contact you personally.

An up to date register accessobile by everone is the start, Check the link attached, however this bloke did not finish the website, help from insurance comapnies, and gov is critical.http://www.marinetheft.com.au/

[Aunty Jack]

Maybe when the boat is first registered or transferd .
There should be a current photo Id of the seller and the buyer also a current photo of the boat.
Then its loged into the main roads at time regatration , if stollen pay the fee retreve the info.
Hand it to the cops and post acordanly.[police would be able to acsess the dada base any way].
Same for the trailer and vin no add photo at rego as above if you replace the trailerit just add new photo at rego time .
This may or may not work but its all I've got for now.

[tony2dogs]

On their new number plate recognition cameras they could link trailer and car registered address - if it flags it may be worth pulling over.





In terms of a fresh theft, before re-birthing, IF the registered name / address / Transport Department Customer Reference Number of the TOW VEHICLE DOES NOT match the registered name / address / Transport Customer Reference Number of the TRAILER (or boat if they can do that), that would be a flag to be stored on their crime recording database and registration databases. This will create a lot of flags, however, when the vehicle/trailer/boat is soon reported stolen then the police have some good timely accurate info to get the ball rolling on recovery, (and grabbing the a**hole offender too). Even better if a mobile check turns up a theft in progress. Throw the book at the mongrel bastards.

[charleville]

One might imagine that with all of the boating activity by regulars to fishing and boating websites that there is a whole flotilla of eyes on the water at any time, 24/7 and that such a flotilla of eyes should be used to watch out for questionable boats.

It won't help with re-birthed boats but posting a weekly list of stolen boats with photos and rego numbers/names on websites like Ausfish should be a no-brainer. However, the question might be as to how many of us would bother looking at that message each week.

On the other hand, every now and then I see a police vehicle stop by the boat ramps at Manly boat harbour. It would be easy for a box of flyers with details of stolen boats to be placed adjacent to the boat ramp for boaties to pick up one on their way out. The regular police visits to the ramps could replenish those flyers.

Likewise, how easy would it be for the police to ask the VMRs to broadcast the details of stolen boats a couple of times each day just like they do with weather reports.

Whilst these activities may or may not help in the recovery of stolen boats they would sure send signals to anyone thinking of receiving stolen boats that it could be a far riskier business than they might think.

Usually, it is fair to say that boaties and fishos loathe people who steal boats and crab-pots more than any other crim and I suspect that a fair amount of support from boaties and fishos would exist to receive this sort of info whilst out fishing or on the way.


.

[Heath]

I think there should be some cross checking of new boat registrations and current thefts.
I don't believe thieves change the make of a boat just the HIN.

It would be nice to have it compulsary for all transfers of registration to be viewed by the transport authority of the state in question.

Another thought is to have set HIN's, that each manufacturer is given to put on their vessels. This way a HIN simply can not be made up. So if someone tries to register a duplicate HIN or one that is far out of range it pops a red flag. Eg trying to use a HIN that is for a Stacer on a Quintrex.

This would obviously require our uselss state governments to all work together and cross link their systems.

[cormorant]

Lets face it - any activity that lowers the resale price achievable and heightens the risk to the thieves is a great start.

We may own a boat or 2 but if you guys are like me and my family we still see what else is out there as a upgrade so be it fleabay, or other places a boat would be noticed if the thieves didnt do a really good job changing colours etc.

The waterways , police having a photo and using it of every boat would help no end as they do with moored boats as people were switchng boats all the time on moorings and just changing rego numbers on boats as there was long mooring waiting lists.

Insurers make an effort - you're kidding - they make money from premiums - no theft no premium.
Half the insurers don't even want a photo - until you want to claim so they can talk the value down. ''

[snapersam]

when i recently reported my boat stolen, the police did not ask for any photos, I wonder how they are going to look for it!'

and your are right the insurnace asked for photos only for valuation purposes. they are not interested in finding the boat.

In the mean time my premium and everybody else's will go up, so more profits to the insurance company. and the authorities will charge for new registration dues for the re-birthed boat. charging twice for the same item.

Only us we loose all the way.

[cormorant]

when i recently reported my boat stolen, the police did not ask for any photos, I wonder how they are going to look for it!'

and your are right the insurnace asked for photos only for valuation purposes. they are not interested in finding the boat.

In the mean time my premium and everybody else's will go up, so more profits to the insurance company. and the authorities will charge for new registration dues for the re-birthed boat. charging twice for the same item.

Only us we loose all the way.


Seriously cancel your rego on boat and trailer. Get the refund now

May get pulled up if they are stupid enough to use it over easter as the police and waterways will do a blitz. If it comes up unregistered they may ask questions or at least not who the driver / helmsman is.

Hope the mongrels get caught

[White Pointer]

G'day,

I applaud your police officer and wish him the best. If Queensland Police are serious they should use the Queensland Transport boat registry and write to each of us outlining new initiatives and enlist our support. I very much doubt that that will happen.

This is a snapshot of what he is up against:

A boat is stolen in Redcliffe. Later that day the owner comes home from work and reports it stolen to Police who examine stored data from traffic cameras. It is seen crossing the Houghton Highway bridge. It proceeds along the Gateway motorway and joins the M1. In one shot the car is identified - registered to a Gold Coast address - which is not given. The car and boat are last seen crossing the border into NSW. The next day the owner visits Gold Coast Police and ask if they have been to the address. Answer, "No". Did they pass on the information about the trace to NSW Police? Answer, No. That day news broke of a whole bunch of Gold Coast police being busted by the Crime and Misconduct Commission. The boat is still missing.

The NT government does not register boats. If it gets nicked down here it may just turn up in the NT stripped of rego numbers and sold off. There will be no REVS check on sale, no check of HIN or engine numbers. If it sails off to any of the Torres Strait Islands or to PNG it will not be searched or checked because it's a free zone for passage. There is a pretty good chance that there is a thriving industry in the NT dealing with stolen boats and it's done with government approval. If you think that's harsh, successive NT governments have been begged by the rest of Australia to get on board with the national measures to reduce theft - and they won't - so they are complicit and corrupt.

Fix the obvious problems so it is actually hard for crims to get away with blatant theft and this police officer may make a difference. Otherwise he is just banging his head up against the corrupt systems he has sworn to obey. I feel for him and hope he can change the system.

I think I'll make sure my will is up to date now.

Regards,

White Pointer

[TheRealAndy]

Thanks for the ideas.

For the record, the whole rego thing was flagged as a major problem. However, the police can only do what they can. Hopefully they can raise the profile and maybe then the politicians will get on board and fix the bits that the cops cant.