Tauranga Police Inspector Zane Smith:

Police are warning contractors and tradesmen to secure valuable tools and 
equipment after an increase in thefts targeting construction sites and work 
vehicles across the Tauranga region.

We are seeing a number of cases of commercial vehicles, such as vans and 
utes, being broken into and targeted for their tools. The majority of these 
incidents have involved vehicles parked in driveways and on the side of the 
road at night.

There has also been an increase in reported cases of burglary where building 
materials have been stolen from building sites.

This type of offending is spread across the region, but there has been a 
significant number reported in Mount Maunganui, Papamoa Beach and Tauranga 
Central.

Construction sites are a target as they often contain high-value items such 
as machinery, tools, copper, and other building materials, which are 
desirable to thieves and easy to on-sell.

Police are urging builders, project managers and contractors to be vigilant 
and take steps to reduce the opportunity for offenders to target construction 
sites.

Security around construction sites is essential; fencing, good lighting, CCTV 
and quality locks are all important to deter would be thieves.

Our advice to any company with valuable tools and equipment is to make sure 
the building site is completely packed up at the end of the day, and all 
desirable items have been secured.

Do not leave anything valuable in unattended vehicles that aren’t kept in 
secure premises overnight and at weekends.

It’s a good idea to record the serial number of your tools, mark them in a 
specific way, and take photos, so you have a record of what is yours. Police 
encourage tradespeople to engrave personal tools with their drivers licence 
number. This will assist Police with enquires in the event your property is 
stolen and increase the chance of it being recovered and returned to you.

Police are actively patrolling and working with our community partners around 
these areas, we urge members of the public to report suspicious activity to 
Police promptly.

If people see any criminal or suspicious activity, call 111 straight away. 
The sooner we know about it, the better chance we have of catching the 
offenders and preventing further crimes.

Anyone with information related to burglaries in the Tauranga area can 
contact Police on 105. Alternatively, information can also be provided 
anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
 

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