Police target car break-ins in Montague as new inner-city operation launched

A new Victoria Police operation targeting car break-ins across Melbourne’s inner south is shining a spotlight on South Melbourne’s Montague St area, which police say has been among the hardest hit by a sharp rise in offending over the past year.

Police have revealed that a group of 30 alleged thieves were arrested 200 times and charged over 1274 car break-ins across Port Phillip and Stonnington since February 2025.

The offending has contributed to a 44 per cent increase in thefts from motor vehicles across the two municipalities in the 12 months to September 2025, well above the state average.

In response, the Stonnington and Port Phillip Vehicle Crime Team established Operation Ignition at the start of this year, with a nightly focus on preventing thefts and disrupting repeat offenders in known hotspot areas.

Among the locations singled out by police is Montague St in South Melbourne, along with nearby streets in Port Melbourne, St Kilda, Prahran and Malvern.

The local focus will be of concern to residents and businesses in the Montague precinct, which has seen major residential growth in recent years and increasing pressure on parking, traffic and public safety.

Victoria Police said the operation involved a stronger focus on prevention, with officers patrolling hotspots, targeting opportunistic thieves and swiftly executing outstanding warrants and other enforcement measures against prolific offenders.

Police say the operation is already showing results, with intelligence indicating lower car break-in rates since the initiative began, alongside 116 arrests.

Numberplates were identified as the most commonly stolen item, accounting for around a third of all thefts from vehicles. Money, tools, laptops and wallets were also frequently targeted.

Police are urging motorists in South Melbourne and surrounding suburbs to take simple precautions, including locking all doors and windows, even when leaving a vehicle unattended for only a short time.

They also warned drivers using secure or multi-level car parks to ensure gates are closed after entering and exiting, amid reports of offenders tailgating vehicles into restricted areas.

Tradespeople have been encouraged to remove tools from vehicles at the end of the day or install lock boxes, while all motorists are being advised to fit anti-theft screws to numberplates to make them harder to steal.

Victoria Police said the offending was being driven by an “extreme group of offenders”, with the scale of the issue prompting the dedicated response.

For Montague residents, the figures are likely to add to concerns about crime in one of the city’s fastest-changing neighbourhoods, where a growing mix of apartments, commercial premises and on-street parking can create opportunities for opportunistic theft.

Anyone whose car has been broken into is being urged to report the matter through the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or via Crime Stoppers.

Police have also published further crime prevention advice on their website as Operation Ignition continues across the inner city.