One in every five cars stolen in Victoria taken from Melbourne’s north
Slack car owners are making it easy for thieves in Melbourne’s north, with an average of 84 vehicles stolen a week. And it’s driving police mad. SEE THE HOTSPOTS
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Car crime is one of the most significant police issues in Melbourne’s north as new figures reveal one in every five cars stolen in Victoria is taken from the northern suburbs.
Of the almost 20,000 vehicles stolen across the state in the past year, 4419 were recorded in the city’s north, while $2.2 million in valuables were pinched from inside cars in Darebin and Hume alone.
The Leader can reveal more than a quarter of the vehicles stolen across the state in the year ending September 2019 were without forced entry as lazy owners continue to make it easy for opportunistic crims.
The damage bill from theft from motor vehicle offences topped $28.9 million in Victoria, Crime Statistics Agency figures show, with Darebin, Hume and Moreland among the top 10 hardest hit areas.
Frustrated police have said their one simple message, urging motorists to lock up and remove valuables, continued to be ignored.
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Operation Impacter – a night time police exercise in Hume, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Darebin, Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea – netted more than 400 arrests in 2019 in relation to more 1000 vehicle crime offences.
The operation also intercepted 3000 vehicles, issued more than 400 infringement notices and completed hundreds of bail compliance checks.
Recently, a man and a woman were caught by Broadmeadows police and the Air Wing in an allegedly stolen car bearing stolen number plates in Tullamarine on February 14.
The woman, 29, was charged with car theft and drug possession, while the man, 30, is expected to be charged on summons.
Superintendent Sean Woods said vehicle crime was the highest contributor to the crime figures in the region.
“Criminals generally look at the easiest way to commit a crime and we know they target vehicles that are left unlocked,” he said.
“Our hot spot within division five, Darebin, is high density living with lots of vehicles parked in the street and easy to access – that’s where the population’s demographics lends to the offending.”
Supt Woods said unfortunately some people, who had been targeted multiple times, had defaulted to leaving their cars unlocked, while others left interior lights on so criminals could actually see there was nothing in there.
“Our message to these people is never make it easy for criminals and we’d be encouraging them to lock their cars up and also their houses,” he said.
Number plates were the most popular item for crooks, with 1192 stolen in Hume and 740 in Darebin.
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More than $550,000 worth of tools and power tools were taken from vehicles in Darebin, and almost $400,000 worth in Hume, while electrical appliances also proved costly with $250,000 worth stolen from the two municipalities.
“Power tools are massive for us,” Supt Woods said.
“I appreciate the difficulties of tradespeople having to lock these away, take them inside or put them in their garage but they’re an easy target and easy to dispose of.”
He said recording serial numbers and marking them with secret pens would help increase the likelihood of tools being returned, if stolen.