Taking action to stop wave of caravan park crime

Published: January 17, 2019

The thorny issue of crime in caravan parks is one that is demanding more and more attention as travellers are increasingly targeted by opportunistic thieves.

In the Queensland town of Mount Isa where there have been some problems, the local council are collaborating with police and caravan park owners to help reduce thefts and increase awareness of crime-prevention practices.

Several senior police officers advised local park owners that, on top of always reporting a crime to police, they should also be aware of the concept of “crime prevention through environmental design”.

This mighty include tactics such as installing security cameras and motion-activated floodlights, cutting down or trimming trees and hedges, and identifying existing hotspots on their properties that may need to be focused on, to prevent the likelihood of a crime being committed.

“It’s important to understand that, no matter how minute the crime, it should always be reported to police,” Acting Senior Sergeant Adam King told the North West Star newspaper.

The police officers also emphasised the importance of stressing to park visitors and residents the need to ‘lock it or lose it’.

Peter Miller from Sunset Top Tourist Park was just one of the local park owners who eagerly accepted an offer from Mount Isa Police to visit his property and help him improve security practices.

  • What do you think van parks can do to improve security for visitors? Comment below.
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It ceases to amaze me with some travellers, do we lock up our homes and garden sheds? I would think the answer there is obvious, yes we do, however I see it time and time again where travellers leave their Waco fridges siting on stands under an awning not locked to anything. I have even witnessed some travellers leaving their mirrors attached to their car only to wake up in the morning to find these have been stolen. The first rule of travelling is to make sure your are safe and a lot of people do not understand safety is not just personal it also includes items that people travel with that can potentially be detrimental to our health if they go missing. Safety and security need to be treated as the same thing and all travellers should attempt to ensure that both are treated as the most important part of your travels.

Shane, absolutely correct in everything that you have said here.

We have a WiTi alarm system installed in our caravan. Hopefully will prevent theft of van or break-ins.

Much of the thieving/pilfering from caravans, etc. goes unreported as normally the value of the items is not worth losing a no claim feature on insurance policies – The chance of recovery of items is not worth the effort.

I am prompted to add my two cents worth here and relate an occasion that relates directly to this issue.

Some time ago I had an altercation at the Mathison free camp NT. directions: 15 8 23 s camp# 161 in the CAMP 8 book.

On my arrival there was a notification on the post by the BBQ advising, ‘please insure all goods are not left outside the van as there is someone coming in late at night stealing things.’

Low and behold at 1am a vehicle approached the camp site and with only its parkers on and began perusing the camp. At first i thought it was just a late arrival. However after a few more minutes it was still driving slowly around the site,

So being pre-warned of trouble I gave the unsuspecting thieves the fright of their lives. I turned on ALL MY LIGHTS, including my van, vehicle’s high beam, spotties full blast. The last sight of the offending vehicle was their tail lights headed quickly out of the camp.

Although it woke the entire camp up, we all had an exciting early ’round the campfire debate’ on safe camping. A great story telling experience insured and it was an experience no one will ever forget!

P.S, People power assured that nothing was taken by the would-be thieves on this occasion, for sure! Gwynnie

Fantastic idea..good on you for do8ng that…

Its not what the parks,police or councils have to do.Its the bloody judges and legal system that needs to improve.Give them a decent sentence. At the moment we have too many do gooders letting them get away with it.The police do a fantastic job only to be let down by the courts.Stevo.

Yeah mate couldn’t agree more to many do gooders. Harsher penalties would go a long way to curing problem

Sorry Paul I disagree. It is up to us, as campers, to make sure that we lock up our valuables so that they cannot be stolen without a lot of effort. In a lot of cases, goods stolen from campers have not been made secure.

I’ve stayed in numerous parks over the years & thankfully, haven’t been a victim of crime. Someone once pointed out to me though, that many van owners empty their pockets on the closest bench to the door, & this makes it easy for thieves to remove purses & wallets without even needing to enter the van!

We had our 52ltr freezer compete with $300 of frozen food to go up through the middle. This happened in Victor Harbor,will never go there again. Puts a very sour mood on things. Even had to buy food for dinner that night.

guard dogs
🙂
Woof Woof…chomp

Our two dogs sleep inside our van and let us know if anyone even comes close. Great deterrent

never happened to me freecamping

Try installing an outside motion sensor light, I also have have handy an long shaft axe handle and wouldn’t think twice about giving these low lifes an old fashion whooping.

I agree with paul stevenson, our biggest problem is the judges not doi g there jobs properly, i reckon they should be held responsible especially with repeat offenders walking out of our courts laughing.

Hi there
I have a saying the price of security is eternal vigilance. By observing what’s going on around you you can take note of who should be where. My wife calls it stickie beackin but I call it being aware of who is around you and fellow campers. I know it’s hard at night but sometimes these oxygen theives check out the place in the day for easy pickings at night.
Safe Travels

It leaves a sour taste in your mouth when it does happen. We had our rear side window broken at a caravan park in Darwin a few months ago whilst we were in the city having dinner. The police were not interested as it is a regular event. They were however willing to provide a r erport number for the insurance company.

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