Officers in Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway participate in freight crime awareness day

Police in Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway, supported by officers from the Police Scotland Business Crime Prevention Unit, the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) and the British Parking Association (BPA), have taken part in a freight crime awareness day.

The day, which took place on Tuesday, 16 April, 2024, included a presentation from Mike Dawber from NaVCIS and Willie Clark from the BPA, at Dumfries HQ. The presentation was held virtually to allow officers from Lanarkshire division, prevention teams across all areas, and other interested parties to dial in remotely.

Mr Dawber covered the work NaVCIS undertake, the different forms of freight crime, the groups involved, and how this presents across the UK.

Mr Clark, Regional Manager for the BPA for Scotland, North of England and Northern Ireland, gave an outline of the safer parking scheme that the BPA administers on behalf of Police forces across the UK through the ParkMark Award. He focused on lorry parking provision and the new ParkMark Freight award.

He drew on a the case of a logistics company, who gained the very first ParkMark Freight award in Scotland for their distribution centre at Newhouse in Lanarkshire.

Following the presentations, teams from both Q and V divisions attended at motorway service areas and engaged with HGV drivers, providing advice and information on avoiding falling victim to freight crime.