With Christmas Day nearly upon us, Wellington Police today launched a new video reminding people of the risk of leaving property unsecured in vehicles.
“You’ll lose a lot more than time,” says Wellington Area Commander, Inspector Chris Bensemann. “Thefts from vehicles is a continuing problem for the Wellington District. We are doing all we can to increase the risk to offenders but we need the public’s co-operation to reduce the reward”.
In the last seven days Wellington District Police have attended 15 call-outs to thefts from cars in the last seven days.
“People don’t seem to realise how quickly an offender can operate. As our new video campaign shows, in less than five seconds, an offender can smash and grab. They are that quick,” says Inspector Bensemann.
Research shows that even after being a victim of 'theft ex-car', people revert to the same bad habits not long after the event occurs. In addition to the release of the new video, Wellington Police will be regularly out and about reminding drivers of the risks and encouraging them to change those bad habits and take their belongings with them.
“Wellington Police recently arrested a prolific theft ex-car offender,” says Inspector Bensemann. “Over the period of just four months, he allegedly broke in to about 40 vehicles and has stolen property estimated to be worth in excess of $67,000. The alleged offender is currently awaiting trial.
“The reality is, we often won’t recover all that property. It’s not just the dollar value. It’s the time it takes to report the theft to Police and make an insurance claim. It’s those precious items like photos saved on phones and laptops that people never get back”.
The full video can be viewed on line at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWgng72Lv2U
Media Opportunity: Wellington Police will be stationed at Clifton Terrace Car park from 7am tomorrow morning providing prevention advice to motorists.