Wyndham residents are being urged to be more cautious because of a rising number of thefts from motor vehicles.
Police say drivers should never leave any possessions visible in unattended vehicles.
“When getting out of the car leave it completely empty . . . nothing visible at all,” Wyndham crime prevention officer Leading Senior Constable Craig McDonald said.
“Something as simple as a handful of change is absolute gold for crooks. Even though it isn’t worth much, it’s worth something to them and they’ll break into your car to retrieve it.”
Leading Senior Constable McDonald said other items most commonly stolen from cars included navigation devices, wallets, bags, mobile phones, laptops and other electrical equipment.
Number plate theft is also widespread, making up 33 per cent of theft from vehicles.
“We know this is a growing problem and we have strategies in place to combat it,” Leading Senior Constable McDonald said. “A thief can remove a number plate in 15 or 20 seconds, throw it in a backpack and walk off.”
He said one-way anti-theft screws were a solution to number plate theft.
Recent figures released by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council listed Wyndham as the region with the ninth- highest rate of stolen vehicles in Victoria, with 452 reported in the 2014-15 financial year.
Leading Senior Constable McDonald said that while the statistics looked bad, the ranking did not take into account regions’ populations.
“There are also ways to target theft of motor vehicles, like fuel and ignition immobilisers,” he said.
