Shepparton residents are being urged to report any people they see loitering around houses or cars to police.
Shepparton police Sergeant Mark Phillips said officers had heard that several people had been seen loitering outside homes and building sites or trying car doors in Shepparton and Kialla last week, but reports had not been made to police about them.
Instead, he said people were discussing these things in Facebook community groups.
Sgt Phillips urged people to report any crimes to police.
“I would say there is a lot going on, and very little of it is reported,” Sgt Phillips said.
“A lot of people think it will be a waste of time.
“We want to hear about it.
“What seems unimportant or unsolvable, we want to know (about it).
“And, if we know about it, we can proactively patrol in those areas.”
Sgt Phillips said if police knew about crimes or people loitering, officers could check with other nearby properties to see if anyone had CCTV footage.
“Often there is a series of offending in the same street, and if we’ve got good (CCTV) footage for one, we’ve got it for all of it,” he said.
Sgt Phillips said often, people would try door handles of cars until they found one that was open and then steal anything inside.
He urged people to lock their cars, even if they were in the driveway or garage.
“People might think they are randomly picked cars (that are broken into), but they (the offenders) might have tried 20 or 30 other cars first,” Sgt Phillips said.
“We don’t want people to be soft targets.”
Sgt Phillips said if people saw people loitering or crimes happening at the time, they should call 000.
To report crimes after the event, call Shepparton Police Station on 5820 5777 or the police assistance line on 131 444.