Recently at the WOMAD festival police arrested members of an organised crime gang. At the press conference at WOMAD the arresting officer said that through a pooling of intelligence on these known criminals they were able to be identified on site by the police and so were arrested quickly after only carrying out a few thefts.
Thousands of pounds in cash was recovered from the thieves who the police say always target the first day of a festival because people come in cash rich with all their weekend's money.
The gang of six were the only people arrested throughout the whole weekend. There were only 19 reports of tent thefts were made between Thursday and Monday, compared to 100 similar thefts in 2007.
Chief Inspector Gavin Williams, who was overseeing the large police presence at this year's festival, said: "We managed to take out an organised gang from Manchester on Friday night and that significantly reduced crime for the rest of the weekend. Two of them had been arrested previously for tent thefts at Download festival. This is what they do for a living. I'm sure they would have made their way to Global Gathering in Warwickshire on Saturday so we were pleased to get them first."
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Inspector Mark Levitt of the Wiltshire Police added that at this year's WOMAD festival, "We work really hard in regards to targeting organized criminals who seek out such festivals for stealing from tents."
eFestivals has also been told that at Wickerman festival in Scotland a ring leader of a gang of tent thieves was arrested, after a reported 5 tent thefts on the Friday night and that there had been 3 arrests around this incident. Festival organisers have confirmed that after the arrest, crime figures for this year were significantly lower than last year.
The blitz on tent thieves continued at The Big Chill last weekend with officers making 20 arrests for offences including theft between Thursday and Monday.
The number of tent thefts averaged about 150 during the previous two years but there were only 34 this year which the local police have put down to the early arrest of a 'team of criminals' at the festival.
Acting Superintendent Sue Thomas, who oversaw the operation, said: "Policing such large numbers over several days was always going to be a considerable challenge but we were able to ensure everyone who came was safe and enjoyed themselves. The Big Chill was very well organised this year and the results speak for themselves."
eFestivals has spoken to some of the police forces involved in these arrests, and discovered that many of those arrested have had to be bailed, because the process of proving their guilt involves complicated forensic tests on the money found in their possession. There is no confirmation on whether it's the same people being repeatedly arrested. However, eFestivals understands that there will be charges brought against some of the criminals once this forensic work has been carried out.
The current targeting of these criminals will not stop. Staffordshire Police have said officers are seeking to make this year's V festival at Weston Park the safest yet, and the force have said that troublemakers would be turfed out and prosecuted.
They have confirmed they will be using automatic number plate recognition cameras to pinpoint offenders as they enter the site, as well as extensive CCTV coverage to track known criminals they identify. Chief Insp Vera Bloor, one of the event commanders, said, "V remains one of the safest festivals in the country and has a reputation for its low crime, trouble free environment. This is largely due to months of detailed planning with the promoters. We are doing all we can to minimise disruption and tackle anyone travelling to the area with plans to commit crime."
The police are clearly making in-roads into breaking up the organised crime which carries out tent thefts at festivals, however festival goers should still heed the advice about keeping their belongings safe at festivals, eFestivals has some handy tips in this article here.
The chances of being a victim of crime at a festivals are quite small, but there is always the possibility, you should always remember the golden rule - never take anything you can't afford to lose.
