Vandalized police cars cost police thousands of dollars

Extent of vandalism and criminal damage to police fleet vehicles revealed
Survey conducted by Select Fleet Solutions
Repair bill totals at least £2.15m over past three years
The cost figure has increased by 27% since 2021

Vandalism and criminal damage to police vehicles has cost law enforcement at least £2.15million over the past three years, surprising new data shows.

It is common for cars, vans and motorcycles in police fleets to suffer damage in the line of duty as a result of accidents and collisions.

But many vehicles in serving fleets require costly repairs due to criminal damage and deliberate vandalism – with bills rising for many forces.

The newly released statistics represent just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to malicious vehicle destruction, according to Select Fleet Solutions, which gathered the information through a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

Not all police forces in the UK record vehicle vandalism separately from general repair and fleet running costs.

But for those who do, the bill accrued between 2021 and 2024 is more than £2.15 million.

The current annual cost of repairing vandalized police fleet vehicles is at least £743,466, a considerable increase of 27% on the 2021/22 figure of £585,232.

Although repair bills vary depending on fleet size and growth, West Yorkshire Police have been particularly hard hit.

It operates a fleet of more than 900 vehicles – ranging from protection units to dirt bikes – and has reported a cost of £716,981 for criminal damage to cars between 2021 and 2024.

Meanwhile, West Mercia Police – who protect Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin – have collected a £433,000 bill for vehicle vandalism, a figure which includes £55,090 in criminal damage costs to vehicles in 2024 so far. Criminal damage costs have also increased significantly for West Mercia, from £116,344 in 2021/22 to £149,723 in 2023/24.

Graham Conway, managing director of Select Fleet Solutions – a division of Select Car Leasing – says the statistics uncovered are sobering.

He explains: “It is reasonable to expect that police vehicles will suffer damage as a result of accidents and collisions. They are thrust into dangerous situations almost daily while keeping us all safe and it would be impossible for bumps and accidents not to occur.

“But what is not acceptable are the huge costs faced by police forces due to vandalism and criminal damage to fleets. We’re talking broken windows, damaged paint, torn off side mirrors and flat tires. For some forces, the costs of criminal damage to their vehicles are increasing.

“And the numbers reported here are just the tip of the iceberg. The overall situation is probably much worse. Not all forces record ‘criminal damage’ or ‘vandalism’ caused to their vehicle fleet separately from more general damage caused by accidents or collisions.

“Our FOI statistics also don’t cover the summer riots that rocked the UK, with police cars overturned and marked vans torched, among all sorts of events that will send criminal damage costs skyrocketing .”

Cost of criminal damage/vandalism to police vehicles over the past three years, revealed by Select Fleet Solutions:

Total over three years: £2,157,441

2021/22 – £585,232

2022/23 – £790,833

2023/24 – £743,466

Breakdown by police force below.

West Yorkshire Police: Total: £716,981

2021/22 – £99,577

2022/23 – £338,901

2023/24 – £278,502

West Mercia Police: £433,000

2021 – £116,344

2022 – £111,842

2023 – £149,723

2024 (so far) – £55,090

Police Scotland: £294,883

2021/22 – £97,809

2022/23 – £90,171

2023/24 – £106,853

Police Service of Northern Ireland: £244,160

2021/22 – £145,223

2022/23 – £37,221

2023/24 – £61,716

Kent Police: £128,319

2021 – £7,978

2022 – £88,553

2023 – £31,788

Staffordshire Police: £47,618

2021 – £16,639

2022 – £23,454

2023 – £7,525

Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police (joint constables Answer): £39,840

2021-22: £12,829

2022-23: £23,439

2023-24 £3,572

Essex Police: £32,657

2021 – £5,197

2022 – £11,844

2023 – £15,616

Derbyshire Police £32,112

2022 – £12,290

2023 – £7,573

2024 to date – £12,249

South Wales Police: £30,698

2021/22 – £7,961

2022/23 – £10,594

2023/24 – £12,143

North Wales Police: £28,647

2021 – £11,889

2022 – £4,136

2023 – £12,622

Devon and Cornwall Police: £21,975

2021/22 – £7,325

2022/23 – £7,325

2023/24 – £7,325

(average annual cost per year indicated)

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies (joint response): £20,929

2021/22 – £2,918

2022/23 – £1,285

2023/24 – £16,726

Humberside Police: £19,529

2021/22 – £11,024

2022/23 – £5,100

2023/24 – £3,405

Dorset Police: £19,371

2021/22 – £6,457

2022/23 – £6,457

2023/24 – £6,457

(average annual cost per year indicated)

Durham Constabulary: £17,908

2021/22 – £3,939

2022/23 – £13,969

2023/24 – Information not held

Surrey Police: £17,483

2021 – £6,750

2022 – £6,747

2023 – £3,986

Warwickshire Police: £15,030

2021/22 – £7,921

2022/23 – £0 (some vehicles registered as ‘Criminal Damage’ on the fleet system in 2022/23, but there are no costs against them. This could be due to relatively minor damage).

2023/24 – £7,109

Cumbria Police: £8,949

2021/22 – £3,332

2022/23 – £2,005

2023/24 – £3,612

Lincolnshire Police: £4,584

2021/2022 – £1,830

2022/2023 – £217

2023/2024 – £2,537

Avon and Somerset Constabulary: £676 (since March 2022)

Total £676 recorded as ‘vandalism’ on the system since March 2022

*(Forces for which vehicle vandalism data is not provided or recorded: Cheshire Police, City of London Police, Dyfed-Powys Police, Gloucestershire Police, Greater Manchester Police, Gwent, Hampshire Police, Lancashire Police, Leicestershire Police, Merseyside Police, North Yorkshire Police, Northamptonshire Police, Northumbria Police, Nottinghamshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, Police Sussex, Thames Valley Police, West Midlands Police, Wiltshire Police).

*Please note that costs shown are before any insurance recoveries are made.

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