The Metropolitan Police has now begun to issue notices to car boot sale organisers, warning they could face criminal liability if they knowingly facilitate or ignore the sale of stolen, counterfeit and illicit goods. The warnings are made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Catlow believes this has led to a reduction in stalls selling tools at car boot sales that police have since revisited.
His role is to make sure best practice is shared across different police forces to avoid “displacement” – when one force has success driving down one type of crime locally but culprits move elsewhere.
Bonzer Car Boot Sale in Romford, east London, was visited by The Met earlier this month as part of its operations to deter the resale of stolen tools.
Sniffer dog Kaiser, a two-year-old Alsatian rescue from the company SelectaDNA, joined officers for the operation. He is trained to detect forensic marking or liquid DNA on tools.
The owner of the land where Bonzer Car Boot Sale is held, who did not wish to be named, said: “We don’t want to be on the wrong side of the law.
“We don’t want individuals who have their power tools stolen not being able to go to work on top of losing the value of those power tools, so we will do whatever we need, whatever we’re advised to do, to cut that out.”
Additional reporting: Phil Mackie
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