TOP STORY: Vehicle break-ins epidemic in Napier

ROGER MORONEY
Napier ranks as the second worst place in the country for car break-ins, and police have had a gutsful.
On a per-capita basis Napier is second only to Counties-Manakau in terms of dishonesty offences involving thefts from cars.
"We have had a gutsful of thefts from cars, it is way out of hand," Napier CIB Chief Detective Senior Sergeant Bill Gregory has said.
The statistics cast Napier in the worst possible light, and if things continue as they are, pretty well every owner of a car in the city will become a crime statistic.
In the period between July 2004 and January 2005 there were 483 reported car break-ins. In the same period ending January this year there had been a staggering 902 - an 87 percent increase.
The figure reported in Hastings for that period was 496. Counties-Manukau, the largest district in the country and with a population more than five times that of Napier, "only" managed 1530 reported car break-ins between July 2004 and January 2005.
Mr Gregory said Napier's 902 figure was likely to be even higher as not all break-ins were reported, and that meant something like 2000 cars in the city would be broken into by July this year.
"The figures are totally disproportionate for a small place like Napier," Mr Gregory said, adding that while overall crime figures for the city were falling, the theft from cars figures were soaring.
The time spent on those offences could be spent on more serious cases, he said.
While police had stepped up night patrols (when about 80 percent of car break-ins took place) there was an urgent need for people to take more responsibility for their property as well as step up their neighbourhood vigilance.
Mr Gregory said many young offenders treated breaking into cars as an exciting adventure and didn't worry about the consequences.
"We are coming across 14 and 15-year-olds who could only be described as hardened criminals," he said.
A major problem for police was trying to educate people to take security more seriously.
"We come across things like lap-tops left in cars overnight. People leave their vehicles unlocked and some with the windows down a few inches," Mr Gregory said. "It's just an invitation to thieves," he said, adding that some offenders when caught led police back on a trail of up to 200 break-ins.
There was also a greater need for people to report any perceived suspicious activity straight away.