Crims pounce on tourist vehicles

TOURISM rental companies are toning down signwriting on their vehicles to ward off thieves.

Fourteen vehicles - eight of which were driven by tourists - were broken into in Rotorua during the weekend.

Senior Sergeant Ed Van Den Broek of the Rotorua police said thieves were hanging around tourist locations and the Central Business District car parks including supermarkets for crimes of opportunity.

He said thieves were targeting tourist campervans and rental cars because they were noticeable and would contain valuables.

"Campervans are obvious that most tourists use them and so are some of the rental cars they use.

"Thieves know there is a high probability that there will be valuables in them. So they will target these vehicles."

Although Mr Van Den Broek wouldn't go as far as saying tourist operators should tone down the advertising on their vehicles, he said it did make them obvious targets for thieves.

Maui, Britz and Backpackers Campervans general manager Kate Meldrum said they were aware of thieves targeting campervans and rental cars.

She said their company didn't put advertising on their rental cars because it was easier to break into them compared with campervans.

Mrs Meldrum also said with or without advertising on the campervans they would always be a target for thieves and it was a matter of making sure tourist took the right precautions when it came to security.

Mr Van Den Broek said thieves would wait for victims to leave their vehicles unattended and then strike.

He said tourist were making it easy for thieves, they would leave windows down or valuables out in the open giving thieves the opportunity to smash and grab.

Rotorua police Acting Senior Sergeant Karl Konlechner described the past weekend as "extraordinary" with 14 thefts from vehicles in the Rotorua area with half of the thefts from campervans.

Mr Konlechner said the offenders they were looking for were highly mobile, quick acting and mostly broke in by smashing windows or pulling door locks.

"Many thieves move on if they feel they are being watched," Mr Konlechner said.

Police were asking the public to report any suspicious activity around tourist campervans or car parks.

"People phoning the police reporting suspicious activity are absolute gold in catching car thieves.

"Many [arrests] are a direct result of decent people taking an interest and phoning in dodgy behaviour.

"We would much rather check out suspicious behaviour and find out it's legitimate than have to deal with victimised tourists.

"I can't emphasise enough that reports of suspicious behaviour is what solves many crimes."

Mr Konlechner said taking time to hide valuables or leaving them in a safe place would save a lot of heartache down the line.

He said police were following promising leads into at least two of the weekend's thefts.

In January five campervans were broken into in Rotorua within three days - destroying New Zealand holidays for at least a dozen overseas visitors.

Police are still looking for the offenders - who they suspect are a gang of thieves linked to the Mongrel Mob.

Police were not ruling out a link between the gang and the incidents at the weekend.

Police said thieves were selling the stolen items possibly out of town to help pay for drugs.

The thefts had prompted calls for harsher penalties for those who preyed on visitors.