Police say Port Phillip is a hotspot for car break-ins in Melbourne, but there’s something simple vehicle owners can do to help mitigate this: lock their doors. According to Victoria Police, 65 per cent of cars targeted by thieves over the past three months across Port Phillip were unlocked. In the twelve months to March 2024, there were 2148 reports of cars being broken into and having items stolen.
This included 468 break-ins in Port Melbourne, 412 in St Kilda, and 410 in South Melbourne. Over the same timeframe, just eight per cent of vehicles had their windows smashed in order for thieves to gain entry. The most common items stolen from cars included wallets, loose cash, clothing and sunglasses, often left in plain sight.
Victoria Police shared some examples of opportunistic thieves it has caught in the act. For example, on July 26, police on patrol along Acland Street, St Kilda saw a 41-year-old woman allegedly open the boot of a Toyota RAV4 and remove a shopping bag. The RAV4 owner was actually in their car at the time and exited it, taking his bag back.
The woman was then seen walking down Acland Street, before attempting to open the door of a Hyundai i40. Police arrested her at the scene, and she was allegedly in possession of the keys to a Range Rover that had been stolen from Armadale the day before. The woman, from Glen Iris, was charged with theft, attempted theft, and handling stolen goods.
On June 15, a man was allegedly seen in the same area twice in two days.