A POLICE operation to tackle a rising trend in teenagers joyriding has been successful, an inspector has said – despite an alleged theft at the weekend which led to the arrest of a 13-year-old boy.
Earlier this year, the police launched Operation Handle’ – a crackdown in a bid to halt the sharp rise in “joy-riding” by opportunistic youths.
As part of the operation, officers have been actively checking parked cars in hotspot areas.
Last weekend, the force received several reports that two young males were seen trying vehicle door handles in the Les Quennevais Precinct at around 5.30am on Sunday. A 13-year-old boy was subsequently arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft.
Inspector David Turnbull, head of community policing, said that high-risk areas have had a high visibility presence of uniformed officers, who have been talking to communities, handing out leaflets in local businesses about Operation Handle and that unattended vehicles are locked and they keys are not on display.
“I haven’t seen a significant increase due to the school holidays,” he said. “Yes, we have had the incident up at [Les] Quennevais, but that appears to be an isolated incident that we’ve had and that’s it.”
Insp Turnbull said the operation had been successful, adding: “We have seen a marked decrease following the intensive operation where we identified a number of key individuals who we knew were operating in this area. So that’s been a real success.”
Operation Handle followed a 25% increase in car thefts in 2025. During the main part of the operation – between February and April 2026 – seven cars were stolen. Since the end of the main operation, during the preventative part, only one vehicle has been taken.
However, Insp Turnbull stressed that the “absolute aim” of Operation Handle is to see car thefts fall to zero.
He added: “A small number of young people – opportunists – have been looking for vehicles that are unlocked. And unfortunately, once again, we’ve had vehicles with keys in them left unlocked which has enabled these young people to take them.
“So this preventative piece will probably continue throughout this year and probably into the next until we can really get the message across to Islanders that there are some really simple steps you can take that will reduce the likelihood of these types of offences happening.”
The police have also worked with Children’s Services and the Law Officers’ Department to combat the trend of joy-riding.
Insp Turnbull said: “It’s really important that we work with our partners. The youth services are fantastic and we have a great relationship with them and the law officers who look at how we can work with these young people, that might be second-time offenders, to try break that cycle. That’s always been the key for us.”
