Police warn residents to be vigilant

LETTER DROP: Lock it or lose it message

PROACTIVE policing has seen more than 500 houses in the Newtown area receive letters warning residents to lock up their cars and houses.

Sergeant Tony Rehn of the Crime Prevention Unit estimated about 90 per cent of all crime in Toowoomba was opportunistic in nature, and entirely preventable.

He said last week’s letter drop in the Newtown area wasn’t due to a particular increase in crime statistics, but rather a reminder for residents to take steps to secure their property.

“There are bits and pieces of crime happening everywhere,” he said.

“In short, the letter drop is to remind people to lock their cars, lock their houses and if there are any valuables in their cars, to make sure it is secure or remove them.”

He was cautious to clarify Newtown, or any suburb in Toowoomba, was not in the midst of a crime spree.

Instead, he likened the letter drop to a “shotgun” approach in preventing crime.

The letter drop has been rolled out through the Volunteers in Policing, which is a group of about 12 residents taking a proactive role in crime prevention in the community.

“They have delivered about 8000 letters since the beginning of the year,” St Rehn said.

He said the volunteers were made up of retired and semi-retired residents, as well as teachers and people considering a career in the police force.

He said the 12 volunteers worked with the three CPU officers in Toowoomba to reduce the number of crimes where possible.

They were backed up by volunteers in the Gatton and Laidley area, police prosecutions and Drayton areas.