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Counties Manukau East Police are issuing a public warning to local residents to help prevent the theft from properties of items such as air conditioning units.
“We’ve seen a lot more thefts properties and vehicle crime, and air conditioning units are being taken from properties,” police say.
“That’s calculated offending, but also opportunistic offending. They’re on the outside of buildings and because there’s coil through it, it’s scrap metal.
“We do see that quite a bit, where people are targeting locations where it’s easily accessible from the road, or they can see it’s connected. If it pays well, they will go for it.”
Police say one way to combat such offending is to install security measures that are affordable for each household.
The “gold standard”, particularly for nighttime security, is sensor lights.
“Having CCTV cameras that can be affordable and set up, and can connect to an application on your phone, having them all around your house … because it’s not just looking after the things that are fixed there in a particular area that you commonly use, or an access way.
“It’s your entire house, because people try to get in in ways that you may think, ‘no, that won’t happen’.
“So CCTV, lighting, and making it difficult for people to see into your property.
“With fences, we know there are certain regulations around the heights of fences depending on council parameters, but there are always ways, unless there’s a covenant you need to abide by.
“So shrubbery, or anything to make it difficult for someone to look over, but again we don’t want to make it too difficult for the homeowner or people in that house to see out.”
The second type of offending police are warning the public about in east Auckland is the theft of motor vehicle licence plates, and tools being stolen from inside tradespeople’s vehicles.
“Vehicle crime will always occur, but we try to limit that exposure by explaining to people that just because your vehicle on your property, or if it’s off-street and parked in your driveway, doesn’t mean it isn’t susceptible to being broken into.
“We have periods where people feel safe because the vehicle is on their property, and they should feel safe, but try to lock your car windows, put your windows up, do not leave anything like bags, coins or tools [visible].
“We know tradies can’t drag all their tools inside every day, but they can make sure they’ve got a good alarm system on their trade vehicle.
“Even at night, if someone tries to break in and it goes off, that is enough for them to scamper off.”
