Victoria Police are noticing a sharp increase in aggravated burglaries in the past few years throughout the state with Cardinia feeling the effects.
This has been driven by child and youth offenders sneaking into homes, taking keys, and stealing cars.
Homes with luxury vehicles are key targets due to the prestige associated with these vehicles.
This issue has affected several suburbs across Melbourne and the Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia areas are not immune.
According to Victoria Police, when arrested, offenders are telling them they will check multiple homes until they find one that is unlocked.
More than 70 per cent of all aggravated burglaries in Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia this year were either through unlocked doors or windows.
A further 8 per cent were unsuccessful attempts when the offender found the property was locked.
An aggravated burglary occurs when the occupant of a property is home when the intruder enters.
However, confrontation during aggravated burglaries is very rare, with 95 per cent of aggravated burglaries involving no form of confrontation whatsoever, according to police.
Offenders are most commonly sneaking in during the early hours of the morning when people are sleeping to reduce the chance of confrontation.
In many instances, people are waking up in the morning to find their keys are gone and their vehicle has been stolen.
To tackle the issue, Victoria Police have been specifically targeting burglars and car thieves each night since March 2023.
Operation Trinity, which runs from dusk until dawn across Melbourne is Victoria Police’s most well-resourced policing operation at present.
Since March 2023, there has been 70 additional police including Dog Squad, Public Order Response and Air Wing rostered each night, on top of existing patrols.
As a result of this intense focus, police have made over 1400 arrests relating to burglaries and car thefts in the past 12 months – almost four arrests per day.
The Greater Dandenong Crime Reduction Team is also hounding the highest-risk offenders in the community – many of whom are repeat burglars and car thieves.
This includes bail compliance checks, patrols of locations where the person frequents and has offended previously, and referrals to support services to stop them from offending.
To keep yourself and family safe, police recommend locking all doors and windows as this dramatically reduces the chance of a burglary occurring. This includes internal garage doors that provide access to your home.
Where you keep your car keys and other valuables within your own home is your own decision.
However, police recommend keeping these items away from windows where they may be visible to opportunistic thieves.
While rare, if confronted, get to safety and call Triple Zero (000).
Do not confront the intruder – property can be replaced, however your life or the life of your loved ones cannot.
For emergencies, to report a crime in progress, or for immediate police attendance, call Triple Zero (000).
For non-emergencies, call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or an online report onlinereporting.police.vic.gov.au/
