Police – Opportunistic crime spree

It’s been a busy two weeks for your local police since I last wrote a column for the Mahurangi Matters.

I’d love to have a ‘good news’ story for you this time, but by our own standards it would be fair to say that locally we have been slammed with opportunistic volume crime in the last two weeks.

Some rat-bag went through Snells Beach one night last week, opening the doors of parked cars and stealing money, bank cards and electronics like radar detectors. Four new build homes in Warkworth Ridge were broken into and the copper wiring and piping were stripped out. Literally thousands of dollars of product, time and labour destroyed to make some idiot a few dollars in scrap. To cap all that off, two local commercial premises had an unwelcome nocturnal visitor ripping off two of our hardest working retailers. I’m talking about businesses which, between them, provide valuable jobs for local people.

It’s no exaggeration to say that when the reports of these offences like these hit my desk the following morning, I feel incredibly frustrated that they keep happening, despite the best efforts of my team. A very small proportion of people feel it’s acceptable to steal off other members of their community, I suppose. Ultimately, it’s the job of your local police to hold dishonest, opportunistic thieves committing offences like the ones I’ve outlined, to account. I know that my staff feel it acutely when members of our community are the victims of crime and I am equally certain that they work hard to make sure we have the best chance of solving these offences.

Both of the commercial burglaries have been solved and an offender is now enjoying the judicial process as a result. The week’s other offences are still a work in progress, but anyone can help us to solve them. First, if you get offered an item at an unbelievable price, that’s probably because it’s stolen.

Not only should you not buy it, but you should get on the phone and tell the police who is offering it. If thieves can’t turn stolen property into money, it’s a big step forward for all of us.

Second, reduce the opportunity. Always lock your parked car. Remove those valuables or at least put them out of sight. Make sure your security lights are working and consider CCTV, a huge step forward in home security, which is becoming more and more affordable.

Finally, if you see something that doesn’t look right, call the police and let us know. Our area has police staff available 24/7 and, trust me, they like nothing more than catching those who would steal from us all. Keep safe.