Protecting Our Community – Practical Crime Prevention Tips

Recognising Local Trends

Over the past year, localised incident monitoring has highlighted recurring patterns that every resident should be aware of:

• Opportunistic Theft: This remains the most common localised threat. Incidents often involve fence-hopping into poorly lit properties, targeting valuables left visible in parked vehicles, or exploiting unsecured entry points. Most of these incidents are preventable.

• Transient Activity: An increase in vagrancy and displaced individuals across the broader area has been linked to a rise in petty theft, property tampering, and suspicious activity.

• Vehicle-Related Crime: Vehicle crime persists via opportunistic break-ins, remote jamming, and the use of cloned number plates.

Your Practical Safety Toolkit

Protecting Your Home

Your home's first line of defence is an early-warning system - something that alerts you before a situation escalates, not after.

Invest in a working alarm linked to armed response. This sounds obvious, but our reports repeatedly reveal targeted properties are where alarms have not been maintained, monitoring subscriptions have lapsed, or the system has never been tested. An alarm that no one responds to is not a deterrent. Perimeter beams, linked to an alarm system, also serve as a fruitful early warning that someone is on your property.  

Make sure cameras cover your entry points. In theft and vehicle crime cases across our precinct, video footage has been the deciding factor in identifying suspects and recovering property. Cameras should cover your driveway gate, pedestrian entrance, and ideally your street-facing wall. Check that your footage is recording, that night-vision is functional, and that your camera provider can retrieve footage quickly if needed.

Fence and boundary integrity matters. Fence-hoppers target properties where the barrier is damaged, overgrown, or easy to scale. Walk your perimeter occasionally. Report damage to your security provider. Thorny plants along the top of walls are a simple and effective added deterrent.

Don't advertise your absence. An empty house with no visible activity, lights off every evening, and post or refuse bins left out for days signals opportunity. Use timer-controlled lights, ask a trusted neighbour to check in, and inform your armed response company if you'll be away for an extended period.

Report, even when you're unsure. If something feels wrong, contact our AROs on the Crime Alerts WA group. Our teams would rather respond to a false alarm than arrive after the fact.

Protecting Your Vehicle

Vehicle crime in our area ranges from opportunistic break-ins to coordinated theft operations using signal jammers and cloned plates. Here is what actually works:

Never leave anything visible in a parked car. Not a bag, not a jacket, not a charger cable. The perception of value is enough to trigger a break-in. Empty your car visibly - open your boot in full view before you walk away if needed.

Avoid parking on the road overnight. Our incident data shows that vehicles parked on public roads overnight are disproportionately targeted. Where possible, use a garage, a secured bay, or a lit, enclosed parking area.

A tracker is not optional, it’s essential. Several vehicle recoveries in our area over the past year were made possible by tracking units. Without one, a stolen vehicle has a poor recovery rate. Ensure your tracker subscription is active and that your monitoring company has your current contact details. Consider installing an additional device if your budget allows. As criminals look to disable tracker devices, and a second one increases chance of recovery.

Be aware of signal jamming. Car-jamming devices are used to prevent your remote from locking the vehicle. If you're parking in any public area, physically pull the door handle after pressing your remote to confirm the lock has engaged. Never assume the doors are locked.

When you stop at a robot or traffic light, keep windows up and doors locked. This is particularly relevant at night and in areas adjacent to busy pedestrian routes.

Protecting Yourself When You're Out

Personal safety in our neighbourhood requires the same kind of deliberate attention as home and vehicle security.

Running and walking alone: Our streets are generally safe during daylight hours, but awareness matters. Avoid running with both earphones in. Noise-cancelling or block-out music headphones remove your ability to hear an approaching vehicle or footstep behind you. If you listen to music while running, keep one ear open to your environment. Vary your route occasionally, and where possible, run with a companion in the early morning or evening.

Your phone: Using your mobile phone in open public spaces - standing at an intersection, sitting on a low wall, walking and reading - is one of the fastest ways to become a target. Snatch theft on foot is common and often done from a moving vehicle. If you need to check your phone, step inside, sit in your car, or find a position with a wall behind you.

At your vehicle: The hijacking pattern we see most frequently involves suspects who wait for a resident to approach their own parked vehicle. If you are walking to your car, have your key ready, scan the area before you approach, and do not stand between the vehicle and the road with your back turned. Get in, lock, then adjust.

ATMs and cash: Use ATMs inside shopping centres or bank branches where possible. If you must use an outdoor ATM, go during daylight, do not count cash in public view, and be aware of anyone loitering in the immediate area.

The Role of Video Footage and Reporting

Video footage has become one of the most powerful crime-fighting tools in our precinct. In the past year alone, footage from resident cameras and our PVUIP network has:

• Identified suspects involved in vehicle theft and battery theft

• Helped SAPS make arrests linked to armed robbery and cable theft

• Enabled the recovery of stolen vehicles by providing registration details and direction of travel

• Cleared innocent parties where false accusations were made

For footage to be useful, it needs to be accessible quickly. Know how to access and share your camera footage. Make sure your system stores at least 72 hours of recordings. If you witnessed or were a victim of a crime in our area, contact us immediately - the sooner footage is retrieved, the better.

How to report crime in Pigeon Valley:

• Report suspicious activity on the Crime Alerts WhatsApp group

• For emergencies: SAPS Umbilo - 031 203 2407

• For Bylaw infringements: Metro Police - 031 361 0000

If you open a SAPS case, note the case number. Share it with our office so we can assist in follow-up and ensure the incident is logged in our precinct data.

Join our community updates. Follow us on Instagram. Talk to your neighbours. If you see our patrol vehicle, a wave of acknowledgement goes a long way - it tells the street that people are paying attention.

Pigeon Valley is a community worth protecting. And the best protection begins with each of us.