Waitemata Police urge public to be vigilant following spate of crimes involving stolen cars"

Waitemata Police are urging people to review their security and report any suspicious behaviour immediately, following a spate of crimes in which groups of people appear to be travelling into the area, stealing cars, and then using those cars to commit crimes such as ram-raid burglaries, particularly in the North Shore.

In the past 2 weeks alone, Police have arrested more than 20 people who have travelled via the Harbour Bridge in stolen cars.

The cars generally have 3 or more people inside, the occupants steal another car on the North Shore and then go on to commit further crimes in the area.

On several occasions they have travelled in a convoy of 2 cars.

A number of ram-raid burglaries on commercial premises have occurred in the past month and there has been an increase in the number of cars being stolen, especially on the North Shore.

Police have launched a specific operation, named Operation Safety.

The team of officers working on Op Safety are investigating whether the crimes are linked, and a number of people have already been apprehended as a result of the operation.

-On Tuesday 10 February Police arrested five offenders after a stolen Honda Fit which was speeding and driving dangerously failed to stop for Police.

The stolen car was found abandoned on Wairau Road and Police officers and a dog handler found the five offenders nearby.

The offenders , aged 16, 20, 17, 19 and 19 years old are facing a number of charges including unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, reckless driving and possession of instruments for car conversion.

-At 12.30am on Monday 2 February Police arrested six offenders after a stolen Ford Territory was used to break into a medical centre in Mairangi Bay.

A pharmacy and café had their windows smashed with rocks and cash registers were stolen.

The offenders, aged 20, 15, 14,14,14 and 13 years old are facing a number of charges including burglary, dangerous driving, possession of instruments for burglary and unlawfully taking and getting into a motor vehicle.

-Later that day, at around 6.30pm, Police arrested three offenders after a Mazda Demio that had been taken from Takapuna earlier in the day was seen acting suspiciously in the Northcote area.

The offenders, aged 18, 16 and 14 are facing a number of charges including unlawfully taking and getting into a motor vehicle, failing to stop for Police, operating a vehicle recklessly and assault.

-An hour later, Police arrested three offenders after a car was broken into in Keeling Road, Henderson and items were stolen.

The offenders, who were using a stolen car, were aged 53, 28 and 20 years old and are facing a number of charges including both unlawfully taking and getting into a motor vehicle and theft ex car.

-At 2am on Wednesday 28 Jan a team of officers working on Op Safety were deployed to the Auckland Harbour Bridge area.

They were alerted to a stolen Nissan Cefiro and 3 offenders aged 19,14 & 16 years old were subsequently arrested and charged with a series of charges, including burglary, unlawfully taking and getting into a motor vehicle.

All of the above offenders live outside the Waitemata district.

"Our officers have been using ANPR* vans and cars to alert us immediately to stolen cars, as well as carrying out checkpoints on main arterial roads, we've had some pleasing results and this should send a clear message to the criminal element - if you come here to commit crime you will get caught" says Inspector Claire Humble, Operation Safety.

"We're not saying that there are no criminals in Waitemata - we know that people living here also commit crime.

But we have identified that criminals from other areas are in fact using the motorway network, the Harbour Bridge and State Highway 16 as a gateway into Waitemata to offend and we want to prevent that from happening in the first place" says Inspector Humble.

"We're also warning people to review their vehicle security - if you don't have an alarm then consider using a steering lock.

We also need the public to be wary of suspicious activity, if something doesn't look right then please call us straight away" she says.

A team of detectives from the Waitemata Tactical Crime Team are working on Op Safety.

Investigators are looking to establish whether the offences are linked and to identify and locate offenders for cases that are still outstanding.

Meanwhile, frontline Police officers are being deployed to patrol in known hot-spots, running checkpoints and using the ANPR vans and cars.

This aspect is co-ordinated and managed from the District Command Centre at the North Shore Policing Centre.

The centre is the hub that has access to technology that can allow Police to see where all officers are on duty at any moment in time.

Similar operations are also underway in the Auckland City and Counties Manukau Police districts.

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