A POLICE operation targeting property crime and the groups of people scaring residents and stealing their cash and cars has been making inroads in Newcastle.
There are strike force detectives dedicated to investigating offences like break-ins and vehicle thefts across the Hunter, working under Operation Mongoose, sharing intelligence between police districts and backing local officers.
Newcastle Police District's crime manager Detective Inspector Steve Benson said proactive measures and the hard work of cops on the ground had netted results in recent weeks.
"The investigations are going well and I'm really happy with the results they've achieved, but it's an ongoing challenge," he told the Newcastle Herald.
"Property crime is always a focus for us because of the volume that we do have, I don't think that's changed much."
Seven teenagers - aged between 14 and 18 - were arrested in two separate groups in the past few days alone after police were called to a home invasion at Charlestown and a car theft at Wallsend.
Detective Inspector Benson said police were working to curb property crime and arrests had been made across the Northern Region, including five teens near Port Macquarie after a dramatic car chase on Wednesday.
"This is something that we are going to keep working on to combat it, but I'm pretty confident that given the results from the last fortnight or three weeks ... I think we will make a dint in this," he said.
Police were on Thursday searching for three people who smashed their way into a Mount Hutton jeweller earlier that morning, and four who stole a car from Tamworth before leading police on a chase through the Hunter Valley which ended in a crash at Mayfield on Monday.
Three young men threatened a mother and daughter with a knife from their own kitchen in Charlestown on Friday night, demanding the keys to a BMW and cash.
The woman at the centre of that "distressing" home invasion told the Herald she made the mistake of thinking her backyard was secure enough to leave the back door unlocked.
One intruder filmed the ordeal and posted it online in a trend she had been told was called "creep and sleep".
Detective Inspector Benson said police were aware some people had been recording criminal activities and uploading footage.
"Whether they're doing it more or less, or we are just becoming more aware of it, I don't know, but the advent of mobile phone technology and social media is allowing them to do that," he said.
"It's something that we're certainly aware of and it forms part of our investigation."
In a bid to stop online activity of that nature, the state government earlier this year introduced a 'post and boast' offence.
It's understood that charge had not yet been levelled against anyone in Newcastle, but one 15-year-old boy was hit with it in Lake Macquarie earlier this month after a police vehicle was allegedly rammed by a stolen car.
"It certainly is within our scope and something we are looking at closely, and I would suggest there will be charges in the short term relating to offences such as those," Detective Inspector Benson said.
He told the Herald social media could also be a good tool for the community to talk with each other and keep across what was happening in their local areas.
Detective Inspector Benson reassured the public that police on the frontline and behind the scenes were working around the clock to prevent property crime, and respond to and investigate all reports.
"We've got Strike Force Mongoose operating in Newcastle, that's designated detectives and plain-clothes officers that are quarantined to investigate these incidents," he said.
"They're working closely with other police districts in the Hunter basin and out west, to identify offenders and work proactively together to mitigate any future offences."
He urged the community to do their bit by making their homes and cars as difficult as possible for opportunistic offenders to target.
"When you're out of the house or you go to bed, do a quick whip-around, make sure your doors are locked, your car's locked, your keys aren't in the car, you don't have any valuables like a laptop sitting in your car," he said.
"Make it tougher, make it less inviting ... a lot of these crimes are by stealth."
- Report information on property crime to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online; for non-urgent help call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444; call triple zero (000) in a life-threatening emergency.
