Police urge drivers to be more careful of where they keep their car keys to prevent vehicle theft
One simple thing is key to thwarting opportunistic car thieves, with Victoria Police launching a new campaign to combat the crime.
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Victoria’s top cop in charge of fighting vehicle theft has urged drivers to be more careful of where at home they keep their car keys.
Victoria Police will today launch a campaign to get people to think more about where they leave their keys, with seven out of ten modern cars stolen after the thief first snatched the key.
On average, 49 cars are stolen in Victoria every day.
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And police are concerned how stolen vehicles are being used by people to commit other serious crimes, including ram raids, armed robberies and commercial burglaries.
Car owners have been urged to leave their keys somewhere convenient but not in sight, away from doors and windows.
In the past 12 months, police intelligence shows that about 17 per cent of residential aggravated burglaries were related to the theft of a motor vehicle.
Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill is in charge of combating vehicle theft, and said car thieves were not courageous. Instead, they are “by and large people who will sneak into your home, are opportunistic and will see a set of keys and take them”.
“The overwhelming majority of these aggravated burglaries do not involve any form of violence,” Mr Hill said.
“But regardless of whether there has been confrontation, the crime is a violation of a person’s privacy, which is why we have been so committed to addressing the issue.
“What is of concern is that seven out of ten vehicles are stolen using the car key.
“People need to focus on the security of their keys.”
There has been a 19 per cent decrease in theft of motor vehicle offences in Victoria in the past 12 months.
From Monday, Victoria Police will post across social media its new “Thankful Thief” videos, showing how opportunistic car thieves can be.
Geoff Hughes, chief executive of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, said: “This phenomenon has grown as immobilisation of the fleet has grown.
“Right now we are at about 85 per cent of vehicles with good electronic security.
“You can’t hot wire them, you need access to the keys.”
Police have also advised car owners to make sure they have their keys with them at all times, including when they are out and have left the car at home.
Leaving car keys unattended in bags and lockers should be avoided and keys should not be tagged with a name or address.
Motorists are also advised to never leave a spare set of house keys or car keys in their car.