Break and enter for homes have risen by around 10% in the past two years from July 2021 to June 2023*. 

With homes full of Christmas presents and the chance homeowners will be holidaying away, this time of year is attractive for burglars and the reason why break and enter crimes increase.

Keeping your family and your home safe is as important as ever.

Crime Stoppers is providing the community with a caution for this time of the year and putting burglars on notice.

“We want everyone to enjoy their well-earned downtime without the worry of whether their home or family will be safe,” NSW Crime Stoppers CEO, Peter Price AM said.

Targeting break and enter crimes, Crime Stoppers is working with Nextdoor to provide communities with information on how they can protect their home and family from opportunistic thieves. They are also encouraging the community to share information with each other about crimes in the area and what to look out for and reporting anything suspicious to Crime Stoppers or Police.

“Our collaboration with Nextdoor has been hugely successful to date in helping to spread awareness, education, prevention and encourage reporting of crime. Using this same platform for a dedicated campaign to help the community keep their homes and families safe these holidays will prove valuable to everyone and take community safety to the next level.”

Nextdoor, the world’s largest neighbourhood network is providing a free, online platform to connect neighbours to trusted people, business and public services based on location. It is an ideal way to find a lost pet, share a recommendation for a local business or hire, buy and swap goods. Crime Stoppers has been collaborating with Nextdoor for several years with the sole aim of making the NSW community safer.

The Nextdoor built-in community is already using this platform to help warn neighbours of suspicious behaviour and crime. Crime Stoppers and Nextdoor want to see this ramped up to help prevent further crime.

Information is available on the Crime Stoppers website but will also be shared on Nextdoor and across social media channels.

Here are some ways you can keep your home and family safe.

• Secure your home
• Burglars go for the easy targets – an unlocked window or door, poor lighting so they can hide from view and the absence of security. By ensuring your home is fitted with quality security doors and windows, good lighting, alarms and security cameras you are making your home less appealing for opportunistic criminals.
• Check your home
• Ensure your street number is visible.
• Keep trees and shrubs trimmed to improve visibility around your home.
• Pack away ladders and gardening tools.
• Don’t leave valuables in clear view.
• Never leave spare keys outside your home.

When you are away from home

• Use a timer to activate an internal light or radio to give the impression someone is home.
• Have a family member, trusted neighbour or friend check your home. Let them know of your travel plans and ask if they can collect your mail, put out your bins and even park their car in your driveway sometimes.
• As tempting as it is to tell everyone your travel plans, we recommend you don’t promote your plans on social media. It’s too easy for criminals to put information together to find out where you live and when you will be away.
• If you have older children at home during the holidays while you are at work make sure they lock up properly when they leave and check for anything suspicious when they return. If they suspect their home has been broken into, advise them to go to a trusted neighbour and call the Police. The safety of a life is far more valuable than material possessions. Keeping your loved ones safe is the highest priority.
• Reduce your curb appeal! With packaging at an all-time high after Christmas Day, there is nothing more appealing to a criminal than seeing the new smart TV carton sitting proudly on your front lawn for collection. Chop up your cardboard cartons and put them inside your recycling bin.

Two-way communication between Crime Stoppers and the community has historically played a significant role in making those communities safer.

“We fully understand the value the community plays in helping to prevent and solve crime. Encouraging the Nextdoor community to share information in their immediate neighbourhoods may just stop another crime from occurring. Reporting to Crime Stoppers will help solve a crime which has occurred. We want to encourage the community to share anything they know, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Every piece of information helps”, said Mr Price.

However, neighbours can also help share local crime and safety updates so that their fellow residents can make informed decisions to keep their families and property safe.

By partnering in this pilot with Nextdoor, Crime Stoppers joins thousands of Police/Community Policing organisations globally which use Nextdoor to distribute relevant crime and safety updates, information about community events, and tips for staying safe in your community.

Jennie Sager, Managing Director of Nextdoor Australia said, “Nextdoor is truly your hyper local network. When you post on Nextdoor you’re sending a message to the neighbours in your very community, not to other parts of the country or globe, which makes it a great way to stay informed of what’s happening nearby.”

“Every day neighbours on Nextdoor make their neighbourhood safer by warning others to stay vigilant. That’s why this partnership with NSW Crime Stoppers is so important. We know the value of real time messaging when it comes to combating crime and with Nextdoor and Crime Stoppers NSW that alert is instant.”

Crime Stoppers will be distributing valuable messages for NSW residents through Nextdoor and its social media networks. Nextdoor allows Crime Stoppers to communicate at a neighbourhood level with residents across NSW.

Source*

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research – NSW Recorded Crime Statistics July 2018-June 2023.