Police in Murrindindi are seeking community assistance regarding a spate of daylight burglaries in their district, particularly around the Kinglake area.

During September numerous residences were broken into, with the main items of choice for the thieves being jewellery.

The houses have been entered during the day, with investigators believing the offenders are going straight to the bedrooms and rifling through drawers and cupboards, specifically looking for jewellery.  Other very portable and valuable items have been left untouched.

In one incident in Watsons Rd, Kinglake, the resident was only away from the house for less than an hour on the morning of Friday, September 8, and returned to find the front door forced open and the jewellery gone.

Other houses targeted have been in Grandview Cres., The Ridge, Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd and the Whittlesea-Yea Rd, along with Sutherland Rd in Kinglake Central.

Murrindindi Sen. Sgt Mark Hesse is encouraging residents to review security of their houses, and in particular where they store their jewellery.

“Consider locking away valuable jewellery in a locked container, out of sight and away from the usual storage places of in your bedroom drawers.

“Give thought to installing a small keypad safe, attached to the inside of a cupboard, so it cannot be carted away.  These safes are also good for protecting and storing personal papers, such as passports and other important identity documents”, said Sen. Sgt Hesse.

“Taking photographs of jewellery is always a good idea, as it is very hard to describe an item once you don’t have it anymore.

“Small items such as jewellery will come into our possession, but it is very hard to find the owners as we are not given adequate descriptions of the property at the time it was lost or stolen; this makes it much more difficult to find out where it first originated from”.

Investigators are also encouraging residents to report suspicious behaviour.

“These unwanted visitors will wander around, knocking on doors, looking in windows, trying to find an empty house that they can try to get into, usually by forcing the front or back door.

“If you see anything which arouses your curiosity as it seems unusual or out of place, let the police know.

“Suspicious behaviour can include such things as a person or people walking around aimlessly, trying to keep their faces covered up, cars parked in unusual or out of the way spots, people knocking on doors or peering in windows,” said Senior Sergeant Hesse.

“Take note of what they look like, and grab registration numbers of any vehicles”, he said.

Suspicious behaviour should be reported to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or for immediate police response call Triple Zero (000)

Residents can also find out more about home security by going to www.police.vic.gov.au, where there are fact sheets and check lists for increasing your home security.