CHRISTMAS has arrived early for Scarborough Police, with latest figures showing crime is down across the sub-district.
Senior Sergeant Craig Wanstall said there was a nearly 3 per cent decrease in overall offences from July to November compared to the same period last year.
The Scarborough sub-district comprises Watermans Bay, Carine, North Beach, Karrinyup, Gwelup, Trigg, Scarborough, Doubleview, Innaloo, Stirling, Osborne Park, Glendalough, Churchlands, Woodlands and Wembley Downs.
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READ NOWSgt Wanstall said stealing offences dropped from 1457 in July to November 2018 to 1357 this year.
“In the last two to three months, we’ve seen a significant downward trend in stealing from motor vehicles,” he said.
“We had 79 stealing from motor vehicle offences in November, down from 126 in October.
“We’d like to thank the public for listening to us and ensuring valuable items are not left unattended.”
He said police had recently arrested several repeat offenders and had “actively” targeted Innaloo with help from the traffic and canine units since October, with offences in Innaloo down by 185 on the previous year.
“We’re just being highly mobile and visible as best we can in that suburb,” he said.
Sgt Wanstall believed other strategies including having at least four officers patrolling the Scarborough Beach precinct on Friday to Sunday nights, and a dedicated team targeting burglaries had paid off.
Burglaries had reduced from to 462 in July to November this year from 483 the previous year.
But there was some bad news; stealing of vehicles was up from 82 to 109 offences on last year and assaults were up from 94 to 115.
Sgt Wanstall, who has been Scarborough’s officer in charge for 18 months, said it was a busy area but their main job was to make the community feel safe.
“We think we’ve had a good year,” he said.
“We’re happy with where we sit at the moment with crime trends.
“We get the feeling we generally provide a good service to the community in Scarborough but if there are any issues, let us know.”
Scarborough Police’s tips for a crime-free Christmas:
– Don’t leave possessions in cars unattended
– Lock up your house if you are going on holiday, advise neighbours and leave them your contact details
– Ask someone to collect mail and bring bins in/out while you are away, leave a light on and make the house look lived in
– If you know a neighbour is away and something does not look right, report it to police
– Drive safely