Surging insurance claims rank Geelong as Victoria’s second worst municipality for burglaries, according to one of the state’s biggest insurers.
Geelong claims jumped 17 per cent last year despite burglaries increasing only 2 per cent state-wide, the RACV said.
The claims figures mirror an 18 per cent rise in official crime reports during the March quarter, which prompted Police Minister Lisa Neville to admit that Victoria faced “significant law and order challenges”.
The RACV figures also revealed a 24 per cent increase in Surf Coast burglary claims.
Burglaries were the RACV’s third highest source of Victorian home insurance claims in 2015, with storm and water damage at the top.
Recent robbery victim and prominent Geelong business operator Richard Furnari called for more police resources, harsher penalties and increased community vigilance.
Thieves recently used a stolen ute to ram-raid his Breakwater machinery wholesale business and steal equipment worth up to $14,000, he said.
Mr Furnari offered a $5000 reward for information to catch the thieves but believed they had since used the ute in more crimes including raids on a bike shop and a photocopier business.
“They’re obviously stashing the ute during the day and using it at night,” he said.
“It makes me so angry. They just come along, cut chains, damage equipment and pinch stuff.
“The police do an excellent job but they’re hamstrung by the laws and the penalties being handed out – even when they catch the guys doing it nothing happens to them.”
Mr Furnari recently apprehended a thief wandering a road near his farm with a bag full of tools at 2am but waited an hour for police to arrive.
“They only had one car patrolling Geelong – how do you run a police force like that?”
The shortage of police and lenient penalties meant the community had to exercise greater vigilance against crime, Mr Furnari said.
“Lock your doors and report suspicious people; it’s kind of a community responsibility these days.”
