Crime Spree But No Police Reports

After the reported theft of insulation from a BGCHG site shed in Forrestdale back in February, the WA Police Force Armadale District - Detectives, in conjunction with PACT Investigators, located and charged an adult male with seven counts of building site crime, including burglary, stealing and trespass. A female accomplice is yet to be found and arrested.

The offender targeted residential building sites in the Forrestdale, Hilbert and Byford areas.

After a search warrant was executed on the offender’s Kelmscott home, Police recovered ovens, a dishwasher, hot water systems, insulation, cement, and wall ties.

Although a great result on this occasion, the lack of crime reporting in the construction industry is a growing problem that needs to be addressed.

The fact that this investigation saw a great result is encouraging, but it does not negate the fact that all recovered property had not previously been reported to the Police.

There has been a concerning trend of crime going unreported on construction sites. The third occasion this year where large amounts of property have been recovered with no reports made to the Police apart from PACT Members.

Without proper reporting, it can become difficult for Police to trace stolen property back to its source. This can potentially lead to more resources being devoted by Police to tracking down where the stolen items have come from instead of allocating resources to preventing future thefts.

Failure to report also leads to further issues, reduced charges against offenders, such as unlawful possession instead of more serious offences of stealing & receiving or burglary, failure to allow Police to identify high-crime areas and high-risk assets and the continuation of crime.

Career criminals generally continue crime sprees until they are caught. The failure of the vast majority of builders to report construction crime is why the industry is currently experiencing an increased crime rate.

Steps must be taken to ensure that any criminal activity on construction sites is reported so that crime can be effectively addressed and preventative and reactive measures be put into place to ultimately reduce onsite crime.

Would this offender have been charged if not for a PACT report to the Police and our initial investigation, probably not, and it is time the construction industry woke up to the importance of reporting crime before it is too late!