Thieves stealing two cars every single day

number of cars stolen from the greater Cairns area in 2017 has already equalled last year’s total as thieves steal about two cars a day.

Car theft numbers have reached 602, the total for 2016, with two months still to go this year. “It’s extremely disappointing to have already reached that figure,” said Senior Constable Heidi Marek.

“We’re looking at an average of about 2.2 cars a day.

“Sadly as we read the report each day from car thefts, we’re still seeing homes unlocked and keys left in plain view.”

Since Friday, thieves have stolen 12 cars across the region including from Westcourt, Woree, Whitfield, White Rock, Earlville, Cairns City, Smithfield, Bentley Park, Edmonton and Yarrabah. Sen Constable Marek said it was “any car, any suburb” and that no particular area had been targeted.

“They’re just looking for quick, easy entry so they can get in and out without being detected and get the car as quickly as possible,” she said.

Unlawful use of a motor vehicle figures for 2016 were already up by 22.9 per cent on the previous year.

Chief Superintendent Brett Schafferius said addressing car theft incidents continued to be a key focus in the Far North.

“We’ve reached a milestone unfortunately, that we’ve had 602 vehicles stolen, which equates to the same number as we had last year,” he said.

“The way that I put it is, there is no one that would give your password for your computer to anyone else to get online, so we have to treat all our property as if we would our access to computers.”

Sen Constable Marek said it was frustrating that many of the offences could have potentially been avoided.

“We don’t want people to become victims,” she said.

“We want people to heed police advice and take security precautions to avoid becoming a victim of crime. My message is to re-evaluate you security practices.”

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