The numbers come from Central West Police District and six of the reported crimes occurred in Glenroi, included two stolen cars left in Cootes Park – one of which, from Yeoval, was set alight last week.

Most of the crimes occurred overnight in the case of vehicles and during the day in the case of house break-ins, but thefts from vehicles outweighed those from houses. 

MAP: Where the crimes have occurred

Five of the break-ins occurred to unlocked property, and police have called for the public to help curb what Central West Police District Acting Inspector Greg Payne called a “crime of opportunity”. 

Acting Inspector Payne said anecdotally the crime wave wasn’t any larger than expected for this time of year, with numerous factors like warmer weather and holiday season playing into the equation. 

“The message I like to concentrate on is when it happens people don’t look to the statistics, one individual break and enter is one too many,” he said.  

Securing cars and houses was an easy way to cut down on some break and enters, and Acting Inspector Payne also encouraged the public to contact police to report suspicious activity. 

“People may witness something they think is insignificant where it could be useful to us,” he said.

“We don’t want people to be alarmed but if they notice people in their neighbourhood, they may not recognise, acting in a suspicious manner, we encourage them to get in contact with us.” 

However, he stressed people shouldn’t be concerned, and police had strategies in place to fight back against would-be thieves – but couldn’t discuss them publicly for fear of tipping off criminals to police plans.

Eight officers from the Police Transport Command will be in Orange over the weekend and having extra officers will help police take a proactive approach to curbing criminal activity, including break and enters.