A LIMESTONE Coast Inspector is imploring members of the community to lock up their vehicles following a spike in theft from motor vehicles during the month of February.
Thieves – who are believed to be operating during the night – have been targeting unlocked vehicles containing valuable commodities.
More than half the people who have fallen victim to the brazen crimes have owned utilities or dual cab vehicles with canopies.
The spate of thefts throughout February has triggered a warning from Limestone Coast Police operations manager Inspector Campbell Hill to “lock up”.
“There are some key messages that have become evident over this time and we have seen some habits that lend people to be a more vulnerable target than others,” Insp Hill said.
“We have had quite a high number of motor vehicle offences and around half of the offences have involved unlocked vehicles.
“So the key message is to lock your car and do not leave valuables in it.”
Insp Hill said thieves targeted items such as wallets, cash, fuel cards, air compressors and other trade tools.
“We are frustrated that people are being victimised and clearly these crooks are aware there are things easy for the taking,” he said.
“There’s been a high number of tradie vehicles targeted and we are seeing this occur during the middle of the night.”
He urged people who work in a trade to remain vigilant, particularly when they return home after a long working day.
“We understand that tradies leave vehicles open on site and that’s all part of making life easy at work,” he said.
“But what we would advocate is making sure tool boxes are secure and canopies are secure at the end of the day.
“It is also important that those vehicles which are used to carry tools are off the road or stored away to avoid becoming a victim.”
Insp Hill said the police were doing what they can to track down the thieves responsible during a targeted operation launched last month.
“We are currently running Operation Loop, which is a really inward focused crime prevention involving high policing activity through the Mount Gambier area,” he said.
“We have been targeting some particular identities of interest and they looped in with some of the activity we saw with the shooting last week.”
However, he said assistance from the community is critical in putting an end to the theft matters happening throughout the city.
“The public need to come forward with information about who is doing it or who is selling cheap tools,” he said.
“We know these sort of things are affecting people’s ability to work and raising insurance premiums and things like that.”
