By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
HALLAM has been the worst hit suburb in Casey for car thefts over a two week period from April to May, according to another police hotspot map
The map, released by police last Monday, highlights Hallam as the worst affected suburb for theft from and theft of cars from Monday 20 April to Sunday 3 May.
Cranbourne East was the next worst hit, according to the map.
But Detective Senior Sergeant John Bergin said the targeted suburbs seemed to shift each month, with the previous hot spot map collated for March indicating Beaconsfield and Narre Warren South as the worst affected areas.
“It’s a very opportunistic crime, as you know, and it’s really hard to track the patterns,” he said.
The renewed crack down on car thefts comes after police launched Operation Stance in February, a project run by the Narre Warren CIU which identifies hot spots in the municipality where there are high rates of this type of auto crime – particularly thefts from cars.
According to the latest police statistics, released by the Crime Statistics Agency in March, there were 248.5 motor vehicle thefts in Casey per a 100,000 resident population in 2014, up from 215.5 the year before.
Det Sen Sgt Bergin said it was incredibly frustrating that many of the thefts were from unlocked cars and that valuables were left visible, despite police urging the community to stay vigilant.
“A lot of European cities encourage cars to be devoid of all personal property,” he said.
“You walk down the streets of London and look into the cars and there’s nothing in them, but not in Casey.”
Operation Stance will continue until the end of June, with at least 50 additional high visibility police officers taking part.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
