On Wednesday, 5th November 2025, Lane Cove Council, in conjunction with the North Shore Area Command Police, held a community workshop on safety in Lane Cove.
The speaker was Senior Constable Dom Trevor, the Crime Prevention Officer at Chatswood Police Station. Snr Constable Trevor said the North Shore PAC had three police stations located in their area, Chatswood, North Sydney and Mosman.
At the community workshop was a group of residents from Riverview who have been experiencing attempted break-ins in their area every two to three weeks by a group of men all wearing masks and hoodies. The residents noted that security lighting and cameras did not seem to deter them; in fact, one of them recently had an axe and waved it at the security camera. Snr Constable Trevor was aware of the incidents, and the residents noted that police had been quick to attend. They wanted more done to ensure the safety of their home and family, and called on Lane Cove Council to give this issue priority.
In 2023, a group of Mosman Residents hired a security firm to patrol their streets after several break-ins in their area (read more here).
In Melbourne, three city councils have hired private security guards to patrol streets.
There has been criticism of this approach as it does not solve the issue, it just means the problem is shifted to another street or LGA.
Home Security Tips
At the start of his presentation, Snr Constable Trevor outlined the crime statistics for the Lane Cove LGA.
Break and Enter Offences
- BOCSAR data shows that since 2015, Break and Enter offences have been stable in the Lane Cove LGA. From July 2024 to June 2025, there were 71. This is slightly down from the previous two years, 78 in 23/24 and 82 in 22/23.
- Despite this, break and enter offences are a target for North Shore Police.
- Sweetenham style offences – Youths from out of the area coming to the North Shore to steal high-performance luxury vehicles.
- Strike Force Sweetenham – based at North Sydney Police Station.
- Police are working overtime shifts to actively patrol hotspots at night.
BREAK AND ENTER – UNIT COMPLEXES
- Been a few break-and-enters into unit complexes around Mindarie St, Lane Cove North recently.
- Ensure all entry/exit points to unit complexes are secure – i.e. fire escapes are closed and not propped open.
- Secure storage cages and ensure valuable items are not visible from outside.
- Ensure valuable items are secured with a secondary device.
- Report any suspicious individuals/behaviour to the police immediately.
- Try to avoid other vehicles tailgating you into carparks, especially late at nigh
Snr Constable Trevor had the following tips:
Crime Prevention Tips:
- Lock doors and windows – ALWAYS!!
- 9 PM routine – It’s a reminder to take a few minutes each night around 9:00 PM to secure your property. The idea is to make it a daily habit to reduce the risk of becoming a victim/target.
- Report suspicious behaviour to the police.
- CCTV, sensor lights, gravel, etc
MAIL THEFT
- Items such as credit cards, drivers’ licences and utility statements sent out in the mail contain vital personal details of you and your family. In the wrong hands some of this information can be used to create false identifications and used for crime.
- Secure your mail. Use a quality lock on your mailbox. Never leave your mailbox unlocked or allow it to become full or overflow.
- Try and arrange to collect new credit cards from your bank or post office. When you’re away, have mail held at the post office or have a trusted friend or family member collect it for you.
- If possible, shred any sensitive mail items such as bills, before throwing them out.
- If you’re having a package delivered, consider using an Australian Post Parcel Locker – must have a “MyPost account” with Australia Post.
TRADESPERSON SCAMS
- Scammers can impersonate technicians and tradespersons, sometimes over the phone or in person, attending your home and knocking on the door. They will often damage your property and demand more money.
- Scammers have gone door-to-door offering discounted tree-trimming, painting and gardening services – then insisting on higher payment.
- Recent example in Greenwich – Guttering. Victim offered great price ($750) to fix gutters only for suspect to cause over $3,000 worth of damage to roof and guttering. Victim was elderly and lived alone.
- Use trusted tradespersons if you need one – be very sceptical of door-to-door offers.
EMERGENCY PLUS APP
- The Emergency + App is a national app that was designed by Australia’s Emergency services.
- The app uses the mobile phone’s GPS functionality so callers can provide emergency services with their location information as determined by their smartphone.
- The Emergency + app displays the caller’s current ‘what3words’ address so they can easily give emergency services their exact location and receive help quickly.
- The what3words is a system that has given every 3m square in the world a unique three-word identifier. The what3words functionality contained within the app is a quick and simple way to communicate your precise location.
North Shore Police Area Command in November 2022 asked local media to stress the following to their readers:
“where possible, strongly encourage your readers/community to lock their houses and vehicles, particularly at night. We have seen an increase in break-and-enter offences over the last two weeks in which offenders are breaking into often unlocked houses at night, looking for keys to high performance vehicles which they then steal. We are seeing that when a house/property is locked, the offenders more often then not move onto the next house. We can not impress the importance of locking up at night enough.”
On 19 October 2022, North Shore Police Area Command published the following post on its Facebook page and noted:
North Shore Police Area Command are also stressing the 9 PM routine where you check that your car and your house are locked.
Make sure you report any incidents to the police, no matter how minor.
If You Buy Us A Coffee, it is, in fact, helping to pay the ITC Team
We want to clarify that, yes, the ITC team does support local businesses by drinking coffee, but there is a limit to the number of cups you can drink in a day.
We started the Buy Us A Coffee Campaign as a way to keep local news free and to grow our team. Our team is now comprised of three local mums who work part-time to bring you all the up-to-date news, traffic alerts, incidents, and events. We also now have Walkley Award Nominee Jack Kelly writing articles for us, as well as founder Jacky Barker. We truly appreciate any help you can provide, whether large or small.
How local journalism keeps communities engaged
Local newsrooms play a vital role in keeping communities informed and engaged with the decisions that affect them. Without dedicated coverage of local government, infrastructure, and policy changes, many residents are left uninformed about issues that significantly impact their daily lives. Independent newsrooms help bridge this gap, providing a trusted source of information and giving people a platform to voice concerns. Strong local reporting doesn’t just inform, it fosters public participation and strengthens civic engagement. – extract from the Local and Independent News Association Website
