Albury crime: Research, Lavington, Springdale Heights, Hamilton Valley hot spots
Crimes such as home burglaries and theft of cars are skyrocketing in Albury, with one resident saying it is “worse than living in western Sydney”. But property owners are now taking matters into their own hands.
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Residents and businesses in Albury’s northern suburbs are spending thousands of dollars on security systems to protect their homes and livelihoods as burglaries and car thefts skyrocket.
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research statistics reveal the rate of home break-ins increased by 34.6 per cent between 2017 and 2019, with 436 incidents recorded in Albury in 2019.
Motor vehicle thefts spiked by 53.1 per cent during the same period, with 196 incidents recorded.
Between July 2019 and June 2020 in the 2641 postcode area there were 119 incidents of breaking and entering, and in the 2640 postcode there were 329.
Lavington resident Tina Sweeney said she moved to the area in January, relocating from western Sydney.
But just two months after moving into her new home with her mother, the trees in their front yard what set on fire by what she believed to be a Molotov cocktail.
“You could smell the accelerant,” she said.
“We called the police at the time it was happening and it took an hour for them to get there.
“They said there wasn’t much they could do without CCTV cameras.”
Since the frightening incident Ms Sweeney has spent $5000 on hi-tech CCTV cameras with night vision, as well as getting crim-safe screens installed on each of her windows at a cost of $2000 each.
“This is worse than living in western Sydney, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Ms Sweeney said.
“Coming from western Sydney I’m no pushover, but this is worse.”
James Plunkett owns a concreting business with a factory unit at the industrial estate in Jindera which was broken into a few nights ago.
“The other night about 3am a couple of guys cut the lock on the front gate,” Mr Plunkett said.
“We have a pretty big spot light and once they drove in it hit the vehicle.
“Cameras picked up their number plates, but the police said they had unregistered plates.
“Luckily our container was empty, but I think they thought they were going to get something.”
Mr Plunkett said he installed CCTV cameras as the industrial area was often targeted by thieves.
“Out at Jindera the industrial estate is pretty easy pickings,” he said.
“Our neighbour a few doors down said he had cameras installed because he’d had a couple of break-ins.
“You do hear of a few regular break-ins and stuff like that, I definitely don’t think it’s an isolated incident.
“The cameras are a deterrent but they’re not going to stop someone, but they do give you peace of mind.”
SECURITY SYSTEMS
Owner of Martix Solutions Albury Wodonga, Tony Boulton said he had seen about a 40 per cent increase in people wanting to install security cameras on both their houses and businesses.
“I would have installed 50 systems in the last six months on homes and businesses,” he said.
“I’m averaging about three systems a week.
“I’ve had to download footage onto USB sticks because there has been incidents at least six of those places.”
Mr Boulton said an average four-camera system cost about $1800.
“It gives them peace of mind, and it is a deterrent,” he said.
“If they (thieves) see the cameras often they will abort the mission of whatever they set out to do.”
POLICE PRESENCE
Ms Sweeney said home and business owners shouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars on extra security just because they live in certain areas, and that a bigger police presence was needed in the northern suburbs.
“I’ve been making inquiries about what we need to do to get another police station,” she said.
“I think another police station needs to be put in, you can’t police 50,000 people with one police station.”
Albury State MP Justin Clancy said he had been advocating in parliament for more police to be allocated to the area.
“We’ve had an increase of six or seven new police in Albury this year,” Mr Clancy said.
“We’ve advocated for an increase in staffing and we’ve raised the question of a new police station.
“But the advice from police is if you have another fixed station you need to man it, which takes away the number of police on the beat.”
Mr Clancy said he did share the community’s concern and would continue to work with police and the community to try and resolve the problem.
CRIME HOT SPOTS
According to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Lavington, Springdale Heights, and Hamilton Valley had the highest rate of robbery in the Albury region, with an area around Griffith Rd, Bevan St and Kotthoff St highlighted as a hotspot.
For home break and enters, an area of West Albury around Jacaranda St and Kurrajong Crescent was labelled as a hot spot.
The majority of Albury Centre was labelled as a hot spot from Yambla Ave in the west to David St in the east, Dean St in the south, extending right into North Albury and covering most of the suburb.
The eastern parts of Glenroy also had a high rate of break and enters.
In Lavington, the area from Wagga Wagga Rd to Parklands Crescent and Dale Crescent was a hotspot for break and enters between July 2019 to June 2020.
Parts of Springdale Heights were also marked as hot spots including the area between Prune St, Hague St, and Douglas Rd.
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