Police are urging the community to assist them as they look to counter a recent spike in break-and-enters in South Dubbo.
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Orana Mid-Western Police District crime manager Detective Chief Inspector Rod Blackman confirmed on Monday extra resources are being tasked to monitor the area but said information from the community is just as important.
Break-and-enter offences dropped by around 40 per cent in 2017 compared to the previous year, which is why members of the force are keen to address the spike, which police believe is the work of a small number of offenders.
“We are particularly concerned at the moment by a high incidence of break and enters concentrated on the South Dubbo area,” Chief Inspector Blackman said.
“We’re putting a lot of resources down there but what were also doing is appealing to members of the public who may have knowledge of who is committing these offences.
”We are fairly confident that it’s a very small number of offenders, that just seems to be the way these things unfold. We are applying a fair bit of pressure on some of our known offenders in that area and we’re yet to solve the patch of break and enters that’s happening.”
Police are trying various methodologies to find the offenders, but added residents can help protect themselves from becoming a victim by locking their properties
“We can’t have police in a whole area like that 24 hours a day, saturating the area,” he said.
“Ultimately these people tend not to sleep at night, and sleep at day, and do their best to remain undetected.
“It’s quite confined to the South Dubbo area, but one thing I will stress is a lot of houses are unlocked.
“We’re asking people to be a bit more vigilant.
“Some months last year were the best we’ve seen in 10 years but one break and enter is one too many as far as I’m concerned.
“You’ll never hear me say ‘it’s just another break and enter’. They are very, very serious victim-related crime and my heart goes out to people that have had somebody that’s intruded in their personal space and we will always treat it with the seriousness they deserve.”
Anybody who may have information relating to the recent spike in break-and-enters is asked contact Dubbo Police Station directly on 6883 1599 or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
