Burglary

By Kelly Yates
NARRE Warren North and Narre Warren East have topped the list with the highest burglary rate in the state, with one in 19 homes burgled in the last year.
The results come after the RACV completed its latest review of home burglaries in Victoria and are based on the 2007-08 Victoria Police Crime Statistics and ABS Census data for occupied households.
Casey Acting Inspector Bruce Kitchen said that police crime statistics for 2007-08 showed that residential burglaries in the City of Casey were down from the previous year.
In 2006-07 there were 947 residential burglaries, while in 2007-08 it dropped to 887.
“Generally speaking residential burglaries are committed when the owner is not at home and generally during daylight hours,” Act Insp Kitchen said.
Cash, jewellery, electrical goods and tools are the most common items stolen, according to Act Insp Kitchen.
This is the fifth year that both suburbs have ranked amongst the riskiest suburbs.
Inner city suburbs dominate the following positions, with Collingwood, Abbotsford, Parkville and Alphington/Fairfield making up the top five riskiest suburbs.
In Victoria, on average, one in 66 homes is burgled each year.
The RACV findings showed that some of the contributing factors to the high rate of burglaries included displays of wealth and a lack of visible security measures like inadequate window and door locks.
However, according to the RACV, with a combination of a monitored alarm system and other common sense steps in place, home owners could significantly decrease the risk of burglary.
Act Insp Kitchen said to prevent burglaries, home owners should make sure all external doors have deadlocks and are correctly locked when not at home.