By Michael Newhouse
IT’S already one of Melbourne’s most notorious hoon hotspots, and now the City of Brimbank has firmed as the stolen car capital of Victoria.
Police across the municipality have reported an increase – albeit in some cases a small increase – in the number of cars stolen from Brimbank and fringe suburbs.
And it’s areas such as the Watergardens station and shopping centre that are the most popular with thieves.
Figures for 2005-2006 show Brimbank had the highest number of vehicle thefts across the state, with 1243 stolen during the period, an average of almost 24 cars stolen from the municipality each week.
The City of Hume recorded the second highest number of thefts, with 1142 cars stolen during the same period.
Brimbank also recorded the third highest number of thefts from inside vehicles, after the City of Melbourne and the City of Yarra.
Just last week, Keilor Downs police station received six stolen car reports over a four-hour period on Monday evening.
Sergeant Murray Gercovich, from the Keilor Downs police, said the big congested car parks, such as Watergardens, were the most lucrative for thieves, and the most troublesome for motorists.
“We’re just getting absolutely smashed at the moment,” he said, indicating police had their hands full with stolen car reports. He said often there weren’t enough officers to cope with the demand.
“A good car thief, if they’re just using it for hooning around, they can knock off one and knock off another in half an hour, an hour,” he said.
Senior Constable Adam Bollinger, from Sunshine police, said the problem was largely associated with Brimbank’s large number of youths.
“They’re younger offenders, who haven’t got their cars, and they’re knocking off cars to get from A to B,” Sen Const Bollinger said.
Ford Falcons and Holdens from the mid 1980s to mid-’90s were the most popular targets, he said.
“Ninety-five per cent of them are used for transport and found again within a week or so, and returned to their owners, none the worse for wear,” Sen Const Bollinger said, while the remaining 5 per cent would be stripped for parts, or destroyed.
Offenders would often steal a car, take it out of the municipality, dump it and then steal another car to get back, which posed a problem for police and car owners, who are still responsible for collecting the stolen vehicle.
Sen Const Bollinger said vehicle owners needed to be more diligent and ensure their cars were as secure as possible, which meant fitting it with anti-theft devices such as immobilisers or club locks.
