Police appeal to shire residents to take simple precautions after a spike in break and enters

In most of the recent cases, doors to homes were left unlocked. If car keys were left lying around, vehicles were also often taken from the driveway or garage.

The break-ins usually occur after midnight while residents are asleep, with the target being personal belongings such as handbags, wallets and other easy to carry valuables.

Detective Inspector Brett Van Akker, the crime manager for Sutherland Shire Police Area Command, said many shire residents feel comfortable leaving their doors and windows unlocked while asleep at night, however he advises those residents to be more vigilant and secure their homes in order to prevent these type of offences.

"On the August 6-7 weekend, there were seven break-ins around the Yowie Bay area and a similar number of offences committed last Sunday night in the Burraneer Bay and Cronulla suburbs," he said. "In the majority of cases, doors were left unlocked."

Detective Inspector Van Akker said waterfront areas in the shire have been targeted recently, but break-ins were also occurring in other parts of the shire.

"The people behind many of these break-ins work in groups and come into the shire to commit the offences. Twenty-nine of the 32 people charged in recent months were not local residents," he said.

"They usually operate in the early hours of morning from midnight onwards and it doesn't matter to them whether residents are home or not, posing a risk to the residents if they disturb the offenders"

Detective Inspector Van Akker established a dedicated break and enter team after taking over as crime manager in January this year. Detective Inspector Van Akker, a police officer for 24 years, was the crime manager at Inner West Command before moving to Sutherland Shire. Before that, he was the investigations manager at St George Police Area Command.

"We have been working hard on this issue and the break and enter team have had some great results with 32 people charged and a total of 207 charges put before the court for Break and Enter and other associated offences.

"However, the criminals will keep coming while ever residents make it easy for them to enter homes through unlocked doors and make valuable personal belongings and motor vehicles easy pickings."

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reports there were 223 reported break and enter of a dwelling offences in Sutherland Shire in the period from April 2021 to March 2022.

That equates to an average of more than four a week.

The number was an increase from 212 in the corresponding period the previous year when this type of crime decreased during the pandemic.

During the corresponding period five years earlier, there were 374 offences.