NORTHAM Police senior sergeant Geoff Dickson says there has been a dramatic spike in local thefts.
“We’ve just come at the back end of two weeks of quite an increase of stealing,” he said.
“Over the previous fortnight we have had a 49.5 per cent increase in the number of stealing offences compared to the fortnight prior.”
A snapshot from October 27-November 3 saw 21 instances of stealing, 13 burglaries, eight reported damages, one count of graffiti damage, five drug related incidents and four assaults.
There were also instances of obstructing police, disorderly conducts, stealing a motor vehicle and one report of going armed in public.
Snr sergeant Dickson said a lot of the thefts were taking place in vehicles, particularly unlocked vehicles.
“[Also at risk are] vehicles on your private property – even if you have your vehicle parked behind your gate, they’ll have a crack at it,” he said.
“Theft is a pathway to fueling a lot of drug habits.
“They smash and grab portable items that have high resale.”
Snr sergeant Dickson said stealing from local businesses was also on the rise.
“We’re reaching out to the business owners to be thinking about loss prevention,” he said.
“Burglaries have been continuing, but not crazy out of control.”
Snr sergeant Dickson said vehicle and foot patrols were focused on Northam ‘hotspots’.
“We look at locations, offenders and victims – if we see Throssell Street is getting smashed at the moment, we’ll concentrate our patrols in that area,” he said.
“The reality is we also do tend to patrol other towns.
“Because we are the 24 hour centre we do end up being pulled to Toodyay, York and Wundowie quite a bit.”
He said there were various locations which become ripe for increased crime, such as schools and houses left vacant due to home owners being away.
“It’s really important to know and trust your neighbors and have some dialogue with them,” he said.
“Them understanding your movements and having your contact details.”
Lights on timers, quality door locks and not leaving rubbish bins out for long periods of time were recommended as safety measures.
“Simple steps can make your house look like it’s lived in,” he said.
“Having friends and family coming to check on your house so it’s not left by itself - movement in and out of properties is really important.”
Coming into the Christmas holiday period, Snr sergeant Dickson said police would be targeting two key areas - road policing and crime.
“In terms of road policing, that’s our number one ticket item, certainly over the Christmas period with the Christmas Traffic Campaign,” he said.
“We participate apart of that, with alcohol and drug testing, speeding and restraints – category A offences which generally have a high impact on the driver.”
Snr sergeant Dickson said the booze bus has been used recently.
“The bus sends a strong message to the community,” he said.
“But it isn’t just about the bus, we have a big webbing pattern around it.
“What the community have to understand is it’s fine to sit there and say ‘keep out of the way of that booze bus’, but in reality we’re in the side streets.”
Snr sergeant Dickson said e-watch, a weekly email from the Northam Police, had proven successful.
“If people sign up to that distribution group, you’re getting emails from me reasonably regulary,” he said.