SOFT TARGET
Frustrated police say we need to ‘lock it or lose it’ as thefts from cars in CBD increase
LIGHT-fingered and opportunistic thieves are being blamed for a shock spike in thefts from cars in the Cairns CBD.
In the past 12 months there has been almost a 60 per cent jump in the number of vehicles parked in town which have either been entered by intruders or had items stolen from them.
The result is part of a rare suburb-by-suburb look at crime across Cairns obtained from police by The Cairns Post.
“A lot of these offences have occurred to unlocked vehicles,” said Cairns City Beat Acting Insp Gary Hunter. “People need to be vigilant and we are reminding both tourists and residents to lock up.”
He said shopping centres such as Cairns Central proved to be rich pickings for wouldbe thieves who would trawl carparks looking for unlocked vehicles.
The figures revealed home or business break-ins have decreased in the CBD by around 37 per cent, however, the nextdoor suburb of Cairns North remains the most likely place in the entire city to experience a home break-in.
Manoora has had the highest number of both assaults and car thefts, while Parramatta Park and Cairns North’s eight robberies in the past 12 months were the highest. In other results:
• Stealing from cars in Bayview Heights has jumped 172 per cent.
• Home/business breakins in Manoora have dropped 19 per cent.
• Palm Cove has had twice as many home break-ins this year as the previous 12 months.
Break-ins to cars in Whitfield and Brinsmead have both dropped by more than 50 per cent.
Woree has had considerable jumps in both break-ins to homes and cars, while more vehicles have been targeted by thieves in Kewarra Beach.
Cairns property crime squad Sgt Barry Karamujic said the results showed no suburb was immune from crime.
He said Woree and Edmonton had recently been hardest hit by car thieves, but offenders would use vehicles to travel throughout the city and further afield, committing further offences such as home breakins. “Break-and-enters have actually been Cairns-wide, all suburbs have been targeted,” he said.
“These are opportunistic thieves targeting all suburbs and people are advised to secure their premises, particularly over the holidays when they may be away for long periods.
“These offenders don’t work within boundaries and they are also frequently looking for more high-end vehicles to steal, so there are no safe suburbs.”
Home or business break-ins at Caravonica have dropped from 13 to one over the twoyear period, while they have doubled in Freshwater.
We are reminding both tourists and residents to lock up CITY BEAT ACTING INSP GARY HUNTER