Canberrans are being encouraged to ‘lock and hide to protect your ride’ as part of a new property theft awareness campaign from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate and ACT Policing.
The Minister for Justice, Shane Rattenbury said the awareness campaign was aimed at ‘outsmarting crooks’ to cut down on property theft.
“The ACT has some of the lowest property crime rates in Australia, but we need to remain vigilant because property crime can affect any one of us,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Our aim is to increase community awareness about these crimes of opportunity and the steps everyone can take to ‘outsmart offenders’ and reduce our risk of becoming a victim to property crime,” he said.
Mr Rattenbury advised people to keep car keys in a safe place, close all windows and lock doors to ‘outsmart the offender’ by making it harder to steal a car.
The Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Mick Gentleman said police had reported on the tactics offenders use to steal cars and valuables.
“These are often crimes of opportunity,” Mr Gentleman said.
“Offenders look for easy targets like open windows, unlocked doors and cars left running in the driveway,” he said.
“Don’t tempt them by leaving valuables in your car.”
Mr Gentleman said the crime reduction campaign would be rolled out over the next six months, with future phases raising awareness about how to make homes and small businesses more secure.
Further information on how to protect cars and valuables can be accessed at this PS News link.
