Footscray police have urged people to stop car thefts and break-ins by simply locking their vehicles.
More than 1000 thefts from vehicles were recorded in Maribyrnong last year, making it the area’s largest single category of crime.
Police were also kept busy trying to recover more than 400 stolen cars.
Inspector Adrian Healy says a police blitz this month will target the problem of leaving cars unlocked in the hope it will reduce police time and resources spent dealing with the problem.
“We’re imploring people to remove valuables from their cars and ensure their doors are locked,” he said. “A lot of the time people are leaving cars without locking them.”
Inspector Healy said this left cars open to thieves to take everything from phones, laptops and GPS devices, to wallets and purses. The latter thefts led to credit card fraud as thieves made the most of their finds.
“It’s a commonsense approach removing valuables and taking them with you.”
Inspector Healy said police would boost street patrols in a bid to cut the theft rate.
Motorists can also visit police stations to obtain one-way number plate screws, making plate theft much more difficult.
