Sting delivers sharp lesson to burglars, car thieves

Operation Bravo, a two-week sting operation by Hamilton police, has resulted in 65 arrests and 145 dishonesty-related charges.

Police said arrests had been made for crimes, including burglary, drugs, violence, inner-city disorder and car offences.

Hamilton City area commander Inspector Paul Carpenter said Operation Bravo was designed as a "hard hit" on people involved in dishonesty offending in the city.

"These are volume crimes that tend to impact on the public more than any other crimes.

"We know that people are most affected by crimes that impact on their personal lives - such as burglary, violence and car offending - and this operation targeted those areas specifically," Mr Carpenter said.

About 40 police were involved in the operation.

Five juvenile offenders are facing a number of burglary charges. They have been referred to police youth aid.

Mr Carpenter said burglaries and car offences had dropped markedly in the city since Operation Bravo.

"We are very pleased with the arrests that were made, but we are by no means complacent about the offending in the city.

"We know there are many people out in the community who will continue to offend whatever police do and they will continue to have no regard or respect for other's property or safety," he said.

"We will be keeping the pressure on these people ... operations like this are an effective means of hitting the target head-on."