POLICE are doing all they can to combat industrial burglaries in the Halifax area following an increase of break-ins this year.
Bunbury Police Officer in Charge Senior Sergeant Mal Jones said burglaries in the Bunbury suburb of Davenport “increased markedly” compared to the overall reported burglary rate with businesses as small as lunch bars as targets.
He said police had increased patrols in the area, bought in the dog squad and stopped and searched any vehicle travelling through out of usual business hours.
“Anything from yards to lunch bars have been burgled of petty cash as industrial areas are empty out of hours and there is also a lack of security measures so it makes them a very easy target,” he said.
Senior Sergeant Jones said police and the Bunbury Chamber of Commerce and Industries chief executive Ray Philp had been working with local businesses towards preventative measures to stop burglaries.
“All sorts of crime prevention measures are being discussed such as increased security and CCTV,” Mr Philp said.
But Self Storage South West proprietor Peter Mitchell said increasing security was not enough after his business was broken into overnight on January 13.
He said about six storage units in Halifax and two units in Busselton were broken into despite already tough security measures in place, such as user specific pins and 8pm to 5am lockdowns.
“Anyone that comes in and out of a unit has a user specific number to not only gain access to the site but also to their unit so it is not a number you can just dream up,” he said.
“We were not broken into because the site is fully alarmed so someone has used a pin to gain access.”
One of the units belonged to Bunbury man Paul Giffin who took out a unit about 13 years ago after his Withers’ property was targeted several times in two years.
In his shed, he had war medals belonging to his father and grandfather, cash, fishing and camping gear, jewellery, surfboards belonging to his late brother, computers and family photos of his late brother and father.
He said he received notice of the break in via email 10 days after the incident while on swing for his FIFO job in Port Headland.
“I was just gutted, I haven’t even told my mum yet because I don’t know how to tell her everything is gone,” he said.
“She trusted me with my brother’s things and now they are gone.”
He said he was offering a large reward with no questions asked for the sentimental items which cannot be replaced.
“I lost my father and brother about 18 months apart so it was a couple of heavy years there, we were all very close,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said he had been in the self storage business for over 20 years and has not once been broken into.
“We have never had a proper robbery, only kids who have jumped the fence and caused a bit of nuisance,” he said.
“This is a professional job- we aren’t talking about amateurs now.”
He said of most of the units burgled, most had nothing or very little taken but two had significant amounts stolen.
Mr Giffin can be contacted on 0427 738 995.
Anyone with any information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
