Theft clamp down

Police are urging local residents to be more vigilant, following a growing rate of thefts being reported in the Southbank area.

According to members of St Kilda Road Police Station, theft of, or theft from motor vehicles are among the highest crimes in the Southbank area, with incidents reported everyday.

Station commander at St Kilda Road Police Station Snr-Sgt Steve Bills says residents must take more caution in considering what possessions they leave behind when exiting their vehicles.

“In 95 per cent of the cases, if you don’t leave something in your vehicle that’s inviting the offender to think about breaking into you car, then invariably they won’t,” he said.

“Stuff like $10 in coins sitting in the centre console or your smelly gym bag – it may only have smelly gym clothes in it to you, but to the crook that’s looking in through the window, there could be a phone or
a wallet.”

Snr-Sgt Bills said residents living in high-rise apartment complexes must also take more care when entering and exiting underground car parks, with thefts occurring as a result of people simply sneaking in.

“A lot of these apartments are sold on this promise of secure parking and that is a misnomer straight up,” he said.

“All you need to see when you drive into the parking area is to see how slowly the gate behind you closes. There are so many people that live in these apartments, you’ve got no idea who’s meant to be there or not.”

According to police, bicycles are the most commonly stolen item, as a result of people either not securing them properly or not securing them at all.

Snr-Sgt Bills said such crimes were difficult for police and there was a lot the public could do to prevent them from occurring.

“It comes down to people using really lousy locks on these bikes, they’ve got thousand dollar bikes that they’re putting a $10 lock on,” he said.

“These crimes can all be avoided by the people taking more care to discourage offenders from even thinking about offending in the first place.”