By VANESSA VALENZUELA
BRIMBANK remains the state’s worst car theft hotspot with more than 960 vehicles stolen in the last financial year.
Figures from the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) reveal 880 vehicles were stolen in Brimbank between June 2011 and July 2012, with 55 motorcycles also snatched from the area.
The numbers show 182 vehicles were stolen from St Albans during the 12 month period, with 164 vehicles pinched from Sunshine and 117 from Deer Park.
A total of 81 cars and motorcycles were stolen from Taylors Lakes, with 63 vehicles stolen from Sydenham, 57 from Sunshine West and 50 from Sunshine North.
In comparison only 16 vehicles were stolen from Albanvale, 12 from Kealba, nine from Keilor and six from Keilor Park.
More than 280 cars were not recovered and classified as ‘profit-motivated’ thefts where a car is illegally disposed of as a whole or for its parts.
Last week Victoria Police announced a new taskforce will be set up to tackle the increased number of car thefts in Melbourne’s north-west.
Task Force Rio will target and investigate organised crime groups involved in the theft of cars.
The latest Victoria Police crime statistics, also revealed last week, showed theft of motor vehicles had increased by 7.6 per cent across Victoria in the last 12 months.
Commander Jeff Forti said he expected the new taskforce to disrupt the groups responsible for the rising trend of thefts.
“We believe that the increase in car thefts in our region is related to the operation of organised crime groups who are attempting to gain profit from these thefts,” he said.
Commander Forti said police believe the crime groups are trading second-hand vehicle parts and selling the rest for scrap metal.
“The average length of time it is taking police to recover stolen cars is going up which suggests that we are not dealing with joy riders – we are dealing with criminals making money and generating profits from these crimes.”
Hyundai Excel X3, Holden Commodore VT and Holden Commodore VN were the most targeted vehicle brands and almost 46 per cent of short-term thefts were recovered within 24 hours.
Geoff Hughes, director of Strategy and Programming at the NMVTRC, said there had been a steady increase of motor vehicle thefts from residential dwellings with 45.9 per cent of thefts occurring at home.
“A disturbing trend around theft of later model vehicles manufactured after 2001, and with an immobiliser, is that increasingly thieves are seeking access to the keys and then stealing the vehicles,” he said.
Mr Hughes said drivers should choose to park their cars inside their garage instead of on the street and encouraged drivers to “treat your keys like a wad of cash”.
Task Force Rio is set to begin operation in the coming weeks.
