Industrial theft soars

Kwinana Industrial Area has been labelled a ‘‘criminals’ playground’’ after burglary rates in the area soared.

Kwinana Sen. Sgt Glen Willers said the area was attracting crooks who were stealing expensive equipment and going undetected.

Just last month saw an unprecedented number of burglaries with figures significantly increasing.

Sen. Sgt Willers said thieves took off with $45,000 worth of copper last Thursday night in one brazen burglary.

‘‘The whole area is a soft target,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s so easy to get in and out because of the lack of security; it’s a criminals’ playground.

‘‘And the area doesn’t have a lot of residences around it so your neighbourhood watch programs don’t work because there is no one around to report the suspicious activity.’’

But the area is set to be the focus of a specialised operation targeting burglars who are taking anything they can get their hands on.

Operation Grigio will use officers from Rockingham, Kwinana and Mandurah to start frequent patrols of the area, particularly at night.

‘‘As the officer-in-charge, I have to do something about it,’’ Sen. Sgt Willers said.

‘‘We’re trying to achieve a coordinated approach to all the security in there.

‘‘We will be doing as much as we can to harden the place up.’’

Sen. Sgt Willers said he would be speaking to all the private security companies that patrol the area and setting up a communication channel so that security guards relay all information about suspicious behaviour back to police.

‘‘We are also undertaking an audit on who the security companies are, doing keyholders’ checks and finding out who has the keys to the premises, and what the security companies do with their information.’’

Sen. Sgt Willers encouraged businesses in the area to contact Kwinana police for a security appraisal of their business. Operation Grigio will run until the end of the month.