Police stress vehicle security

The chances of losing a car to thieves in Whangarei are abating.
But people still need to be vigilant and not "gift wrap" their vehicles for criminals, police warn.
During the last financial year ending June 2006 the number of unlawful takings and car thefts in the region has fallen following intense police pressure.
Whangarei/Kaipara area commander Inspector Paul Dimery said between December 2005 and March last year an average of 45 cars a month were being taken. That had dropped to an average of 30 over the last few months.
"Obviously we would like to improve that even more but it's a pleasing result," Mr Dimery said.
The reason behind the decrease was traffic enforcement combined with criminal enforcement. "The more police we have out there the more chances of getting caught and that acts as a deterrent."
He said the jailing of a well-known Whangarei car thief had also coincided with fewer cars being stolen.
Northland police figures showed a 28 percent increase in the number of vehicles stolen in the region last financial year with more than two vehicles stolen every day.
According to crime statistics 764 reports of car theft and unlawful takings were made to police in the 12 months to the end of June 2006. That compared with 596 for the previous 12 months.
However, over the last month 17 cars and three trailers had been stolen in Northland, with thieves taking just a few hours in 2007 to steal a $25,000 car parked on the front lawn of a Kamo home. It's a significant drop compared to 77 vehicles being stolen across Northland in December 2005.
Mr Dimery said a disproportionate number of cars were being taken from Kamo, between Sunday night and Monday morning.
He urged car owners to help themselves by taking basic precautions such as locking vehicles and parking them in busy areas. Using a steering wheel lock or installing an immobiliser was also recommended.
"Make sure it's hard to take. Don't gift-wrap it for an offender."
Car thieves cost the New Zealand insurance industry about $200million a year and insurers are keen to stop the problem, Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive Chris Ryan said.
"It's a very significant problem for New Zealanders in one form or other. There are two types of car thefts - thefts to order, which is generally expensive cars, and joy riding, which are usually the cheaper models that are easy to get into or high-powered smaller cars," Mr Ryan said.
"If somebody has an expensive car, like a Holden HSV or Subaru, the insurer will say it needs to be parked off the road and in a garage and have a comprehensive security system installed, including an immobiliser."
He said one of the most effective, and comparatively cheap, security measures was having a steering wheel lock fitted. "They are remarkably effective. They can be seen through the window, so act as a deterrent, are easily installed and they really do work," he said.
"Thieves generally go for the easier target first so if there are two cars side by side and one has a steering wheel lock they are more likely to go for the other car."
He said organised gangs were stealing high-value, high-performance luxury cars to order throughout the country.
* WHAT CAR THIEVES WANT
The Insurance Council of New Zealand has a list of the favourite vehicles targeted by car thieves:
1. Holden Commodore, 95-current, mainly SS, HSV, Monaro, Clubsport, Senator/R8 or GTS models.
2. Subaru WRX 94 to current, especially STi models.
3. Subaru Legacy and Imprezza, 93-current, all models, especially turbo.
4. Mitsubishi Lancer, 93-current, especially Evolution models.
5. Mazda 323 Familia, 90-current, particularly turbo 4WD models.
6. Mazda RX7, all models.
7. Ford Laser, all models, particularly turbo 4WD.
8. Ford Falcon, all models, particularly XR6, XR8, GT, TE50 and FPV models.
9. Toyota Starlet, 92-2000, turbo models.
10. Nissan Skyline, 92-current, turbo models.