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UK Forces List:

• Avon & Somerset Constabulary
• Bedfordshire Police
• Cambridgeshire Constabulary
• Cheshire Constabulary
• City of London Police
• Cleveland Police
• Cumbria Constabulary
• Derbyshire Constabulary
• Devon & Cornwall Constabulary
• Dorset Police
• Durham Constabulary
• Dyfed Powys Police / Heddlu Dyfed Powys
• Essex Police
• Gloucestershire Constabulary
• Greater Manchester Police
• Gwent Police / Heddlu Gwent
• Hampshire Constabulary
• Hertfordshire Constabulary
• Humberside Police
• Kent Police
• Lancashire Constabulary
• Leicestershire Constabulary
• Lincolnshire Police
• Merseyside Police
• Metropolitan Police Service
• Norfolk Constabulary
• Northamptonshire Police
• Northumbria Police
• North Wales Police / Heddlu Gogledd Cymru
• North Yorkshire Police
• Nottinghamshire Police
• Police Service of Northern Ireland
• Scottish Police Forces
• South Wales Police / Heddlu De Cymru
• South Yorkshire Police
• Staffordshire Police
• Suffolk Constabulary
• Surrey Police
• Sussex Police
• Thames Valley Police
• Warwickshire Police
• West Mercia Constabulary
• West Midlands Police
• West Yorkshire Police
• Wiltshire Constabulary

1. you have seen the vehicle parked, locked and unattended
2. the vehicle has been offered to you for sale

In both the above cases you should contact the police in whose jurisdiction the vehicle was found.  As the report is unlikely to be an emergency, do not use the 999 system but phone the constabularies headquarters whose switchboard will invariably pass you to the control room.  A list of constabularies can be found at http://www.police.uk/forces/forceslist.asp or by using the links to the left of this page.  For a map of the UK to select a use the following link:  http://www.police.uk/forces/default.asp

Some do's and don'ts:

• do advise the police as soon as possible - the sooner the vehicle is removed, the better.
• when reporting the matter to the police obtain the name and number of the person with whom you spoke.  this will help if you need to return to them
• do not touch the car, for example to see if it is locked.  No good will come of your fingerprints on a stolen car or inadvertently destroying the fingerprints of a suspect
• do not pay obvious attention to the vehicle.  There is nothing  be gained from drawing attention to yourself.
• if someone returns to the car, advise the police ASAP and record the time and the 'suspects' description.  This may prove to be of assistance to the police later, especially if the vehicle is used in another crime.
• do not confront, tackle or undertake a citizen's arrest of anyone returning to the vehicle.  People who steal cars are criminals and are likely to have the same respect for you as they have the property of others - none!  Conversely, the police may have forgotten to take the vehicle off of the PNC as stolen and the person returning may be the lawful owner!

We have been asked if taking a picture of the car is advisable.  This depends on the circumstances and no two are the same.  The abundance of digital cameras with decent zooms or phones which can be used discretely to capture an image of a vehicle, or anyone returning to it, make taking a picture far simpler these days.  A picture is certainly worth a thousand words and evidentially superior to a mental recollection.  However, it's not worth risking a confrontation over.  Always err on the side of caution  - you have fulfilled your civic duty by doing more than most by identifying a stolen vehicle.  We'd not want you to come to any harm or be the subject of action that would dissuade you from remaining vigilant.

Let the police know the vehicle's whereabouts and then let them do their job.

Lastly ...

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Thank you.