Crescent Head crime wave threatens residents and tourists
ONCE the locals felt so safe in their sleepy surf town they happily left front doors unlocked and their windows wide open.
ONCE the locals felt so safe in their sleepy surf town they happily left their front doors unlocked and their windows wide open.
But now the residents of Crescent Head, on the Mid North Coast, are resorting to keeping household weapons such as rolling pins or cricket bats under their beds following a spate of break-ins by armed robbers.
In one recent incident a homeowner was threatened with a knife after confronting an intruder in the middle of the night.
And it’s not only the residents who are suffering — unsuspecting holiday-makers who come to the town to relax have also been targeted.
The situation has become so bad that the locals, many of whom moved there to take advantage of the peaceful beachside lifestyle, and the world famous surf break, have formed a vigilante group to help patrol the area and report information on break-ins, including creating a Facebook page called Crescent Head Crime Fighters.
One resident, who wanted to be identified only as Emma, said: “This sort of thing has been happening a lot and a lot of the tourists get broken into because they’re in holiday mode and maybe not keeping their doors and windows locked.
“Last week there were a lot of homes broken into and in one of those break-ins the resident disturbed them and the guy had a knife and threatened them.
“A lot of people are having that feeling at the moment where they’re locking their windows and leaving lights on. As a result a lot of people in the community decided we needed to do something to prevent this.”
Emma said the residents had taken matters into their own hands after the local police station lost its permanent police officer several years ago.
The nearest police station is now a 25-minute drive from the town in Kempsey.
They are also working with police to set up a neighbourhood watch program to help catch thieves.
Mother Lucy Stevenson, who has taken regular holidays at Crescent Heads since she was a child, said she and her husband Ben had been targeted by thieves before.
“We came up here last year for a holiday and went to one of the back beaches. We were gone for no more than five minutes and our car window had been smashed and all our bags taken,” she said.
“For some reason, this is happening a lot more now. It’s such a shame.
“We’ve been keeping all our doors and windows locked and the lights on and being really careful, and that’s not what you want to be doing when you’re on holidays. You want to relax. If we were broken into again, I very much doubt we would come back next year.”
Port Macquarie LAC Commander Paul Fehon urged residents to keep their homes locked and belongings secured.
“We increased our bike patrols, our highway patrols and our general duties operations out there,” he said.
“The majority of crimes we see are due to premises being unlocked.”
Mr Fehon said crime in the area had decreased overall in the past 10 years.
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