Stoisits: Did the police take all necessary steps to track stolen lorries?

Did the police take all necessary steps to track stolen lorries?

ORF-Series „Bürgeranwalt“ („Advocate for People“) – Broadcast of November 28th, 2009

On 11 June 2008 four cement lorries were stolen from a gravel- and concrete plant in South Tyrol. Mr. F., one of the factory drivers, noticed the missing vehicles and informed the Carabinieri at once. The Carabinieri notified the police department of the city of Lienz in Tyrol, who in turn assured the company that all the necessary measures have been taken. As the company still had no news on the stolen vehicles at the end of the year Mr. F. decided to investigate on his own. He assumed that the lorries took the motorway and therefore used so called “Go-Boxes” which are obligatory for all vehicles heavier than 3.5 tons using Austrian toll roads. As a matter of fact, four such boxes had been purchased at a gas station and the signals emitted from these boxes were stored by ASFINAG which is responsible for the management of publicly owned roads and motorways in Austria. The records clearly showed that the four stolen lorries crossed Austria using the motorway. Mr. F. wondered why the police had not been able to locate and stop the stolen vehicles with the help of this data from the ASFINAG.

In a written statement, the Federal Ministry of the Interior explained, that it could not publicly discuss its tactics to fight this type of crime. Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of the Interior made clear that the police had not acted in an inadequate way. A close cooperation with ASFINAG happened to be difficult according to the police statement as ASFINAG very rarely provided the necessary data referring to data protection. The head of the ASFINAG legal department expressly objected and stated that ASFINAG was more than willing to cooperate with the police. Ombudswomen Stoisits explained that a legal basis for such cooperation enabling the police to obtain the necessary data from ASFINAG in case of imminent danger already existed. In addition the Austrian Ombudsman Board did not expect the police to reveal background information on tactics fighting crime but had demanded an explanation for the proceedings carried out by the police in this specific case.

Ombudswoman Stoisits was wondering if the Austrian authorities really took all necessary measures and how similar cases would be handled in the future. The Federal Ministry of the Interior would have to take action and implement a better communication network between ASFINAG and the police to ensure a faster tracking procedure in the future.

Follow-up: Cash payment denied – did Ms. P. receive any compensation?

After having moved to another city Ms. P. wanted to register her car at her new address. To her surprise the local vehicles registration office run by the “Vienna Insurance Group” did not accept cash payment. The obligatory payment by remittance slip caused additional expenses for Ms. P. and also turned out to be very time-consuming. When the “Vienna Insurance Group” refused to compensate Ms. P. for her expenses, she contacted the Austrian Ombudsman Board for help.

During the broadcast a lawyer of the “Vienna Insurance Group” explained that the company stopped accepting cash payments for security reasons in 1991. This was the first complaint since then and the amount in question was rather small. Ombudswoman Stoisits replied that according to the respective Austrian act (Gebührengesetz) administrative offices are obliged to offer customers the possibility of paying cash. This also applies for the “Vienna Insurance Group” as it was carrying out duties for public authorities when taking care of registering vehicles after removals. Stoisits demanded cash payments to be implemented in all branches.

Six months later Ms. P. had her expenses refunded and received a compensation payment from the “Vienna Insurance Group”. In the future each office will offer the possibility of cash payment as well. Ombudswoman Stoisits was pleased about the outcome of this particular case.