ACT police say car theft is linked to home burglary

Another major target of Canberra car thieves was the VW Golf, which ranked third on the ACT's most stolen list last year but doesn't even figure in the top 10 of the most stolen cars nationally.

Data from 2021 revealed Australia's most stolen car was the now defunct VE Holden Commodore, which ranked number four for theft in the territory last year.

A total of 1266 vehicles were reported stolen across the territory in 2022, down from 1439 the previous year but up slightly from the 1238 stolen in 2020.

Source: ACT Policing

"Canberra is no longer a Sleepy Hollow," the ACT's Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan said recently.

"We are seeing crime in all areas and will continue to see that basically as we continue to grow.

"It's not lost on me that while we talk about Canberra being a city of some 470,000 people, there's 60,000 people across the border in Queanbeyan and they are growing as quick as we are."

National car theft rates across the country last year remain uncollated after the not-for profit taskforce which since 1999 has been sifting through the stolen car data and analysing it - the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council - was forced to wind up in 2021 after the Insurance Council of Australia pulled its funding.

So at a time when vehicle theft nationally remains at a high level - so high, in fact, that ACT police formed Operation TORIC (Targeting of Recidivist Offenders In Canberra) in August last year to tackle this crime and other high-volume property crime issues - there is no contemporary data pool to study it and better understand it.

Police say car theft is linked to other serious crime types, which occurred last month in Canberra when 19 commercial burglaries occurred across Gungahlin in one night, the "smash and grab" offenders using cars stolen on previous nights.

Engine immobilisers have been a requirement on all new cars sold in Australia since 2001 has a transponder chip built into the key or the fob.

Each key or fob is coded individually which makes stealing a vehicle almost impossible without the key, which shows that most cars are stolen as a direct result of a home break-in where the keys are left out or unsecured.

Commander Linda Champion, in charge of Operations for ACT Policing, said that despite consistent messaging from police to Canberra homeowners about the issue of leaving their car keys unsecured, the problem persists.

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She advised anyone with a doggie door to ensure it has a lock, and to properly secure it at night.

"The overwhelming number of home burglaries in the ACT, resulting in car theft, occur during the hours of darkness," she said.

"Most of these are a result of entry via insecure doors, windows or pet doors.

"The offenders conduct a light search of drawers in common area and have stolen handbags, phones, wallets and car keys, along with the vehicle(s)."

High-end vehicle theft is more common in the ACT, per capita, than in other jurisdictions, with thieves sometimes stealing the car keys and then returning later to steal the cars.

"This [returning to steal cars from homes] is a more common issue than most people realise," she said.

"If people find their car keys stolen, they should contact police immediately. We're very much aware that offenders grab the keys and return later, perhaps even a day or so later, to steal the car."

And when the keys are already in the thief's possession, the car can be gone in a matter of seconds.

The seemingly brazen nature of the burglaries would surprise many. Last year, during a weekday, it's alleged a thief stole several sets of keys from a northside garage which services late model luxury cars. The thieves "sat off" the premises and returned later to steal several cars, including a late model BMW and a $137,500 Audi TT RS sports coupe.

Police say a surprisingly high percentage of car thieves are now targeting Canberra from across the NSW border and from points as remote as Wagga Wagga and Orange, in the NSW central west. Vehicles stolen from within the ACT have been recovered there.

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