With the recent increase in car break-ins around our community we wanted to share how we’re acting to deter thefts. Visibility is one of the greatest tools we hold as a community patrol. Being an active presence in areas reported to us by Police, council, and the community acts as a deterrent to the people committing these crimes. Since concerns were raised our patrol has visited the Mt Vernon carpark on twelve separate occasions. Patrols will slowly drive around the area and usually park up in the carpark to keep an eye out for any unwanted activity. Any suspicious activity is logged and sent through to Police intel, if the patrol were to witness a break-in Police would be called immediately, our car is equipped with front and rear dashcams which would capture it. Pamphlets were placed on parked cars (explaining the risk of break-ins and how to lower the risk) twice. We are also working with the council to install improved signage in the area that will stand out more (much like the signage recently installed at Halswell Quarry). We intend to install our own signage too.

We intend to continue patrolling high risk areas for the foreseeable future – The Police, community and council have all notified us of the issue. Please continue to report any suspicious behaviour and break-ins to the Police so they are better able to allocate resources. For more information on joining our patrol or how you can further support us please head here. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us here or on our Facebook page.