Waikato Police reveal Hamilton hot spots amid spike in vehicle crime

A map showing vehicle crime activity across Hamilton, with red indicating high frequency and green low. Image / Police

A "spike" in vehicle crime has been hitting Hamilton's northern suburbs and police have released a map of the hot spots to raise awareness.

Waikato Police released the map via social media, showing a swathe of activity across the city.

On the map red indicated a "high spike" - including the northern suburbs of Melville, Chedworth, Huntington and Pukete - while green still indicated vehicle crime but at a lower frequency.

"We, like the people of north Hamilton no doubt, are aware of a spike in vehicle crime in the city's northern suburbs," the post said.

"We have our Intel section and a number of tactical workgroups working on resolving it. As the hot spot map indicates, there's a few areas affected and the patterns are different."

A map showing vehicle crime activity across Hamilton, with red indicating high frequency and green low. Image / Police

Residential areas were being hit at night, while commercial and retail locations tended to be targeted during the day.

People in affected areas were advised to phone 111 if they saw anything suspicious at the time, while those whose vehicle had been stolen or broken into could call the non-emergency line 105.

Police requested people provided as much information as possible, including locations, time of day, what was taken and type of offending.

"Every report helps us understand the picture better. They all help us to respond and prevent further victimisation."

Police also asked for quality CCTV images where possible to help identify suspects, in a time frame when the offence happened.

These could be uploaded to the crime reporting line, linked to a case number.

Residents were advised to make sure their vehicles were locked and remove any valuables.