Vehicle thefts showing solid fall

THE Cairns region’s reputation for vehicle thefts and property crime is showing signs of easing with a significant drop in recent weeks.

So far this month eight cars have been stolen between Gordonvale and the Northern Beaches and a total of 348 so far this year, showing signs of being significantly lower than last year’s record high of 767 thefts.

According to Queensland Crime Statistics, November was the worst month for vehicle thefts in Cairns last year with 100 vehicles stolen.

This is followed by September (97), May (87), August (85) and July (84).

Senior Constable Heidi Marek said at its worst up to three cars a day were stolen in the Cairns police district last year.

“We’d hate to see numbers getting that high again and certainly this month in particular has been extremely positive with only eight cars stolen so far,” she said.

“At our worst we were sitting at three cars stolen a day and now we’re under one a day, which is really positive and we’d like to see that number come down even further.”

So far this year the most vehicle thefts occurred in May with 78 reports – a 22 per cent drop from 2017’s highest month.

Police operations have been ramped up and a significant number of offenders apprehended, but Sen-Constable Marek said it was also the community’s enhanced security efforts that contributed to recent drops in thefts.

“We’d love to think that the message is getting out there about people’s security – removing car keys, locking up your house and definitely that you’re car keys are out of plain view,” she said. “Along with that there’s also a lot of police operations under way – we’re targeting recidivist offenders. So those offenders that are actively out seeking cars and other property offences.”

Sen-Constable Marek said as vehicle theft numbers drop, so do property offences.

“Unfortunately with vehicle theft it’s not just the theft of the vehicle, there’s generally a burglary that goes along with it,” she said.