MORE than three cars a day on average are broken in to across the Belmont sub-districts with Belmont and Rivervale having the most offences, prompting Belmont Police to remind residents to be smart and not leave valuables in vehicles.
There were 1053 thefts from motor vehicles across Belmont, Ascot, Rivervale, Cloverdale and Kewdale during the 2017-18 financial year to May 27.
Belmont Police Sergeant Peter Woollens said offenders may still attempt to break-in to cars to see if there is anything valuable even if valuables are were out of sight.
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READ NOW“Vehicles are generally targeted where property items can be seen in the vehicle, removing all property from vehicles would assist this,” he said.
“The problem is that they are often finding valuable items hidden not removed from the vehicle.
“Common items are laptops/iPads, wallets and credit cards.”
Sgt Woollens said to combat thefts from vehicles, residents should park vehicles in garages, carports or as close to residences as possible.
“Offenders do not want to be seen or heard but as long as offenders know that people keep leaving property in cars, they will be tempted to try their luck,” he said.
The South East Metropolitan police district, which Belmont and Kensington police fall within, experienced 4939 thefts from vehicles between July 2017 and May 2018.
WA Police said thefts from motor vehicles for the 2017-18 financial year had decreased within the Kensington Police precinct compared with previous years and was in fact at its lowest since 2013.
Belmont Police have used Twitter to spread vehicle security messages, with targeted security patrols and ranger patrols also taking place in “hot spot” areas.
City of Belmont Neighbourhood Watch has used letter drops or information stalls at shopping centres to help spread the message.
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