Vandalism and a growing concern for stolen and burnt out cars was discussed at Tuesday’s Crime Prevention Committee meeting, with police reminding residents to be vigilant about security.
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In recent months, the number of stolen cars – some of them torched – spiked, with eight reported stolen in December, five in January, three in February and six in March.
In a number of those cases, the keys were left in the car.
“The biggest issue we’ve had recently is security,” Acting Inspector Josh McKenzie said.
“I don’t mean to place any blame on the victims, but the simple fact is in this day and age there is opportunistic crime.
“The community needs to take some responsibility about leaving themselves open to these crimes being committed.
"The community can give the information anonymously"
- Acting Inspector Josh McKenzie
“Ultimately the blame certainly lies with those responsible, but the less opportunity they get to commit crimes, the greater chance we have of curbing it,” Acting Insp McKenzie said.
Police are yet to make any arrests over the stolen and torched car incidents, however say they are using various methods to try and track down the culprits.
Officers are seeking intelligence; targeting offenders who have been dealt with for other crimes through compliance checks; as well as implementing the police suspect target management plan.
They are also using traditional policing methods by either trying to catch them in the act or receiving information from the community.
Police say it’s extremely important residents report any information.
“Intelligence is the key thing,” Acting Insp McKenzie said.
“I’d be very surprised if no-one knows about these sort of offences. They usually brag about it.
“The community can give the information anonymously.”
Mayor Owen Hasler raised the issue of recent vandalism attacks, including Friday night’s desecration of 15 Crepe Myrtles along Links Road.
The town’s vandalism bill has already reached $27,000 for the year with another quarter to go.
“It’s not the sort of record I’m appreciative of as a ratepayer in the community,” Cr Hasler said.
“I suppose the snapping off of Crepe Myrtles might not be seen as a major incident, but to me it’s very concerning this behaviour is taking place.”
A recent incident at the Lyrical Loos in Wolseley Park, where thousands of dollars worth of damage was caused, was raised by Council’s Michael Silver, who asked about the effectiveness of fully operational CCTV cameras in the CBD.
In Tamworth, council’s CCTV footage is live-streamed to the police station where officers can see it 24-hours and have the potential to act quickly, however given Gunnedah does not have that capacity of being around the clock, or officers are out on jobs, Acting Insp McKenzie said he would have another look at the issue.
The issue of who to contact to report an incident or crime was also raised, with a recently conducted council crime survey showing some people don’t know who to call – whether it’s Gunnedah or Tamworth police stations, Crimestoppers or the Police Assistance Line.
Insp McKenzie said the first port of call in an emergency should be 000 or Gunnedah Police and if there is no answer at the station, it will always divert to Tamworth which will offer a response.
