Two years, six car break-ins

A West Auckland woman is considering leaving her ‘‘unsafe’’ neighbourhood.

West Harbour’s Sandee Rika and her family have experienced six vehicle break-ins over the past two years.

‘‘We’re seriously thinking of moving out of west Auckland. I feel it’s become just so unsafe,’’ the 45-year-old said.

Police stats indicate car break-ins are on the decrease in the area, but Rika said her neighbourhood has changed for the worse.

‘‘You don’t feel safe walking down the street anymore. You can’t even have your car parked on the road, she said.

Rika’s daughter-in-law Jane De Groot’s vehicle was broken into during the early hours of June 27.

The 23-year-old’s right rear vent window was smashed while it was parked on Luckens Rd.

De Groot said a packet of tissues was stolen but not the expensive pair of glasses.

It cost nearly $500 to repair the glass – nearly ‘‘a week’s pay’’.

Police data for the Waitakere area for 2017 up to May showed there were 461 reported victimisations of theft of vehicle parts or contents.

But the number of such crimes appears to be on the decrease as over the same five months the year before, 646 were reported.

And over the whole of 2016 there were 1513 such crimes reported, down on 1873 the year before.

These numbers do not include stolen vehicles. Rika reported five of her six incidents to the police.

Detective Serjeant Steve Matheson, from the Waitakere Police tactical crime unit, said one broken-into car was ‘‘one too many’’.

It was ‘‘encouraging’’ though the trend was downwards, he said.

‘‘It’s a sign of the pressure the police were putting on individuals, because we know who’s doing it.’’

Matheson said offenders targeted unlocked door handles, or smashed the rear quarter windows to draw less attention.

Rika said she planned to install a $1000 CCTV system.