Collie police hot on trail of burglars

Collie police have recorded a spike in burglary cases, but want to assure the community they are safe in their homes.

Collie officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Heath Soutar said he had seen a spike in burglary cases and police had taken appropriate responses to combat the issue.

We’re increasing our patrol times so we’re out until earlier in the morning and we’re doing our best.

“We believe that it’s a group of young men involved in doing it, but we’re requiring evidence to charge them which is proving a bit difficult at the moment.”

Police reported burglaries in Forrest Street, Hawthorne Avenue, Johnston Street, McKinley Street, Coalfields Highway, Prinsep Street South and two in Deakin Street last week and said most occurred in the early hours of the morning while people were home.

Dwelling burglary rates in Collie jumped from nine in February to 19 in March, while non-dwelling burglaries decreased from seven in February to two in March.

Sen. Sgt Soutar encouraged residents to follow burglar alert information on Collie Police social media if they were concerned.

“I’m trying to get that message out there,” Sen Sgt. Soutar said.

“We have a lot of people that probably are still living in the60s or 70s that think they can just leave their doors open, their windows open and things on the porch and expect everything to be alright — well that’s not the case anymore.”

Sen. Sgt Soutar said he wanted the community to be aware of what was happening in their areas.

I just want people aware of what they can do to hopefully make life a little better for them.

“Catching them in the act is extremely difficult.

“That’s why we rely on people being our eyes on the street and calling it through, and us acting on that information straight away and getting to an area where something is occurring.”