WODONGA police say thefts from motor vehicles in the city have jumped by more than 70 per cent over the past eight months.
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The massive increase comes despite a number of targeted campaigns in recent years to educate the public about not leaving valuables in cars or leaving vehicles unlocked.
A total of 147 cars were broken into in Wodonga in the eight months to the end of February, compared to 86 between July 2009 and February 2010 — an increase of 70.9 per cent.
Acting Sen-Sgt Larry Goldsworthy, of Wodonga police, said four cars were broken into in West Wodonga between Monday night and yesterday morning.
He said a laptop was stolen from a car in Colombo Court, while a thief was disturbed in nearby Mayfair Drive while attempting to break into a vehicle at 5.30am yesterday.
Sen-Sgt Goldswothy said there were also two attempted break-ins in Colombo and Delatite courts and all of the vehicles involved were unlocked.
He said the opportunistic thieves were targeting laptops, iPods and GPS units, as well as small amounts of change from centre consoles.
“If everybody across Wodonga said ‘we’re not going to leave change in our cars’, it would immediately remove the motivation for these cars to be broken into,” he said.
“We’re talking about predominantly teenage offenders so any money is good money for them and they care little for the consequences.”
Sen-Sgt Goldsworthy said he was concerned people were still not getting the message to lock their cars despite the constant warnings.
“We are concerned, because it’s like putting $50 on your front doorstep and expecting it to be there in the morning,” he said.
“If you leave your car unlocked, don’t expect your property to be there when you come back, and it just makes our job that little bit harder.
“It’s easy pickings and we’ve got a couple of groups of offenders and that’s their thing at the moment, in an average week, there’s these types of offences happening every day or every night.”
Crime Prevention Officer Sen-Constable Matt Barnes, of Albury Police, also reported a rise in theft from cars in recent months.
“We have seen a rise in steal from motor vehicle offences over the past few months,” he said.
“This is an area that concerns us and we have a number of strategies in place to combat these offenders,” Sen-Constable Barnes said.
“Like our counterparts across the Border, we would strongly encourage people to always remove valuables from sight and secure their vehicles.”
Anyone who has information on the thefts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.