“There’s good people in Glenroi, just look at the effort that the Glenroi school puts into students,” Councillor Gander said.

Cr Gander helped start a change in Bowen by working with the community, with police and NSW Housing. While understanding people’s fear of retaliation, he encouraged them to act.

“Residents have to be aware, they have to talk to each other and they have to back each other up,” he said.

Cr Gander said Housing NSW needed to do its part in protecting tenants and residents in Glenroi.

“If you’ve got an anti-social family, do you protect them or the good tenants?” Cr Gander asked.

“For three to four years I did a midnight patrol, if I saw something, I reported it to police.”

Cr Gander said a mailbox was used to pass information to police confidentially, with Housing NSW backing up residents who reported crime by tenants.

Glenroi resident Wendy Davidson has defended the suburb and said the area’s reputation was not deserved.

Mrs Davidson has lived in Glenroi since 2004 and for the first time since moving to the area her house was broken into last week.

Mrs Davidson said she woke up to the sound of metal on metal and looked outside.

“I saw torches flashing around and initially didn’t believe what I was seeing, but I woke my husband up and went to go outside,” she said.

That was enough to disturb the offenders, who escaped over a fence with cordless power tools and batteries.

Since then Mrs Davidson has upgraded security getting padlocks for her sheds.

Mrs Davidson’s break-in comes off the back of several deliberate fires which have damaged and destroyed property in Glenroi.

“I know crime goes in peaks and troughs, but there’s definitely something happening in the area,” she said.

“What makes it sad is there’s a lot of good people in Glenroi but they get tarred with the same brush.

“I don’t think it’s unique to Glenroi, I’m sure there’s a few suburbs which have crime issues.”