Neighbourhood Watch joins with police to catch vandals in Gungahlin crime spree

At least 10 residents across the area had their homes and cars pelted with golf balls and eggs, smashing windscreens and lights.

ACT Policing and ACT Neighbourhood Watch have teamed up to catch the criminals, in a new initiative designed to spread the word about local crimes faster.

This is the third time both organisations have worked together on a crime since the collaboration was put in place less than a month ago.

ACT Neighbourhood Watch president Brian Schiller said it was designed to help police reduce crime in the territory.

''We can help them out and the important point is that we can get the word out quickly,'' he said.

''When there's been an incident like this in a suburb or in a couple of suburbs we can get information out very quickly and then our members can talk to their neighbours.''

The cost of the damage done was estimated by police to be in the range of tens of thousands of dollars.

The police said they believed the vandalism spree was related to an earlier break-in at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club.

On Sunday, a half-way house on the golf club's property was broken into and golf balls, confectionary and soft drinks were taken.

Police were out in Gungahlin on Wednesday door-knocking the area for more information.

The ''My Gungahlin'' Facebook page was afire with outrage on Monday and Tuesday, as residents reported their damage.

Despite the reports of damages, a spokeswoman for NRMA Insurance said there had been a decrease in malicious damage claims in recent times.

A spokesman for Dick Smith said there was a steady increase of consumers spending up to $1700 on security systems and surveillance cameras for their homes.

Police said while footage from private security cameras was useful in police investigations, there were still limits surrounding its use in court proceedings.