Anglesea top for burgs as crims turn to coast

ANGLESEA is in Victoria’s top 10 for most-burgled postcodes, according to a new report.
And Corio, Norlane, North Shore, Geelong, South Geelong, Bareena and Chilwell are in the top 40, according to the RACV’s Safe as Houses.
The report on long-term burglary statistics in Victoria’s regions dispelled the theory that people living in the country were burgled less than city counterparts.
RACV home services general manager Peter Brindley said perceptions the country was safer than the city might have been true in 1997 but not now.
“We often hear of home-owners in the country being far less security conscious and no doubt burglars are aware of this,” Mr Bridley said.
“When compared to well-secured homes in metropolitan Melbourne, where monitored alarms and CCTV are more common, regional towns can be seen as good targets for burglars.
“The increasing prominence of regional areas in Victoria’s riskiest areas highlights that some burglars have shifted their gaze to the country and to holiday homes along a number of coastal strips.”
Geelong and Surf Coast community liaison officer Leading Senior Constable Andrew King said burglaries came in waves.
“Criminals often work in patches. When you look at the intelligence, you find they’re targeting specific areas, and that could be driven be a whole heap of things,” he said.
Sen Const King urged householders to phone 000 about suspicious activity.
“Often when we take a report we find that neighbours will have seen something, someone hanging around or whatever it might be, but they’re unsure and think they might be bothering police.”
Sen Const King said securing homes should be top priority, with home-owners suffering a “mentality down here of not locking doors and windows”.
He had received reports of burglars gaining access through an unlocked doors or windows.
Filling in absence-of-premises forms at local police stations before leaving home for extended periods was a “good idea”, Sen Const Kind said.
Police could then patrol past listed houses with knowledge of absence dates and holders of any spare keys,.