The local constabulary is fine-tuning new tactics in its efforts to turn the tide on preventable crime.
Senior Constable Jacqui Newman, of Hume’s Crime Prevention Unit, called in a crowd of colleagues for her two-hour blitz of the car park at Gladstone Park shopping centre last Thursday afternoon.
She’d cased the precinct a couple of times on her own before the “swamping”, as she called it, when a large group of officers from the Public Order Response Unit descended in force on the car park.
“I copped a lot of abuse, actually,” Senior Constable Newman said.
Car owners, it seems, don’t appreciate warnings that they’ve left their cars unlocked or left valuable items in full view.
They’ll like even less the $148 fines they will cop for leaving their vehicles unlocked from now on.
“It’s completely frustrating,” Senior Constable Newman said.
Last Wednesday night, Operation Aware also rolled into town, targeting Broadmeadows, Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park shopping centres.
This also was a “swamping”, with officers issuing 63 notices, the majority for unlocked cars, in one quick courtesy blitz of each locale.
Senior Constable Newman said she had previously been reluctant to issue fines for unlocked cars, preferring warnings.
“Thefts from motor vehicles have risen 68 per cent Victoria-wide, and the stats for Hume are very, very high,” she said.
“Am I supposed to beg? ‘Please, please lock your doors and hide your valuable things?’
“It presents a safety concern as well, if kids can access open cars.
“This is now a divisional issue and we’re rolling out Operation Aware with units from Moreland, Moonee Valley and Hume.
“And I will continue to issue tickets after this finishes in October.”
