Repairs to police vehicles cost forces £2.2m in three years
Repairs to police vehicles damaged by vandals has risen to £2.2m over the last three years.
Data released by Select Fleet Solutions has revealed that the bill for criminal damage to police vehicle was £585,232 in 2021/22, £790,833 in 2022/23, and £743,466 in 2023/24.
These figures do not always include general repairs and running costs.
West Yorkshire Police, which operates a fleet of over 900 vehicles, reported a cost of £716,981 for criminal damage to cars between 2021 and 2024, while West Mercia Police had to pay out £433,000 to repair vehicles damaged by vandalism.
Graham Conway, managing director at Select Fleet Solutions said: “It’s reasonable to expect police vehicles to suffer damage as a result of accidents and collisions. They are thrust into dangerous situations on a daily basis while keeping us all safe and it would be impossible for bumps and crashes not to occur.
“But what’s not acceptable are the enormous costs having to be shouldered by police forces as a result of vandalism and criminal damage to fleets. We’re talking about windows being smashed, paintwork being ruined, wing mirrors being ripped off and tyres slashed.”
He added: “For some forces the costs associated with criminal damage to its vehicles is on the rise. And the figures reported here are just the tip of the iceberg. The overall picture is likely much, much worse. Not all forces record ‘criminal damage’ or ‘vandalism’ to its fleet vehicles separately from more general accident or collision damage.
“Our FOI stats also don’t cover the summer 2024 riots that shook the UK, with police cars overturned and marked vans set on fire among all manner of events which will have criminal damage costs sky-rocketing.”
