Between Sunday 25 October and Wednesday 28 October 2015 Katherine East experienced a spate of property offending. It was largely confined to ‘fridging’ and the theft of pushbikes left unsecured in yards.

“During this period there were four unlawful entries reported,” Superintendent Megan Rowe said. “Two of those were through unlocked doors and one was on a shipping container at the Katherine Sports Grounds.

“For the same period, there were 14 reports of theft. Five of these were bicycles, five were alcohol or other items from outdoor fridges or from outside tables, and four were theft of property from unlocked vehicles.”

A Property Crime Operation was established and the following results have been achieved: 

• A 17-year-old male offender was arrested for Unlawful Use of Motor Vehicle in Cox Crescent when he was discovered in a vehicle asleep behind the wheel after deactivating the handbrake and backing it down the driveway.
• A 29-year-old male offender broke into a business premises on the Victoria Highway and stole cash. Police identified him and arrested him shortly after the crime, but the cash had been disposed of.
• Two 19-year-old offenders were arrested for numerous counts of stealing from outdoor areas and fridges in Katherine East, some property was recovered.
• A 17-year-old male offender was arrested for Unlawful Entry and Stealing in Katherine East and also charged with numerous counts of stealing from outdoor areas and fridges, some personal property was recovered.

A combination of bailee checks and regular patrols of target areas in Katherine are utilised to prevent further property offending. Police have also used bicycle and plain clothes patrols of the ‘hot spot’ areas late at night and early in the morning to disrupt activities.

Katherine is showing a significant reduction in property crime over the same time period last year, with a 22.29% reduction in offences compared to the same period in 2014.  A total of 258 offences have been identified from 1 July 2015 to 28 October 2015 compared to 332 offences for the same time period in 2014.

“Katherine Police and Northern Investigation Section detectives continually work toward detection of offenders and prevention through arrest and the enforcement of bail conditions, in particular, curfew and non-alcohol conditions,” Superintendent Rowe said.