I am a single parent who works fulltime, owns my own place, loves my kid and pays my taxes. I'm good to my neighbours and give back where I can. None of this can shield me from the RAMPANT THEFT of my hard earned property that seems to now pervade our Fremantle area, or reduce my risk of being exposed to sophisticated, bold and scary thieves that have tools, can get past any barrier, work in gangs and have no scruples to effectively target, stalk and steal any expensive item not locked inside a home. 

I recently purchased my $9000 Yuba electric cargo bike after saving for four months. I got to ride it for two months, before it was stolen last Friday evening, despite being locked to my outdoor setting with purportedly unbreakable locks. The thieves broke into my yard, cracked what they could with bolt cutters, picked up the 45 kg bike still locked to the chairs, and walked the whole lot down my driveway to an awaiting van. MY 5 YO DAUGHTER AND I WERE TERRIFIED, LISTENING TO THE THEIVES 3 METRES FROM OUR BEDROOM WINDOW. We called the police, who deem it a low level crime because they didnt 'break into our house' (thank god). To them it was just a bike, but to us, that bike replaced my car and let me earn extra income from my car share rental. It also took a family of four around Iceland, proving to the world that e-bike touring was possible. It wasn't just a bike.

When I put up an reward ad on the FB, DOZENS OF PEOPLE SHARED THEIR STORIES OF LOSS - BIKES, CARS, TRAILERS, CARAVANS - all in very brazen incidents that are OFTEN IN BROAD DAYLIGHT OR WHEN THEY ARE HOME. Everyone has a story - whether they have disrupted someone in the act of stealing their bike, of witnessing cars backing up to caravans or boats trailers, of waking up to bent shed doors and, of course, missing bikes. And frankly, it is skin crawling to imagine strangers in your yard where kids play.

Police statistics don't tell the real story as petty theft is lumped together, however from the hundreds of comments my posts have gotten it is clear THESE ARE NOT 'ONE OFF' OPPORTUNISTIC CRIMES, THIS IS A NETWORKED AND SOPHISTICATED BUSINESS. The gang who targeted me are not drug seeking opportunists, they had been casing my home for weeks and had tradesmen equipment and a van. While the cops may say my bikes been swapped for drugs, my gut tells me that my bike is being resprayed and is on its way to the east coast market. I think the local police need to wake up here.

In these strange times, I expect better. We pay 30-40% income tax and have a well resourced police force (not to mention ever so vigilant street parking brigade). I want the local government to step up and really invest in reducing local crime. I want to feel safe in my own home and dont want my story to be for nothing. So, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Please sign this, and by doing so, you agree you want a REAL commitment to finding these gangs and punishing them. YOU want convictions and your possessions returned, but most importantly, YOUR PROPERTY TO BE A SECURE, FEAR-FREE SPACE FOR YOUR FAMILY.

We want:

1. a COMPREHENSIVE ACTION PLAN to reduce community crime, including a adequate police resources to a taskforce to study, find and deal with these gangs. IN OTHERWORDS, FIND AND RETURN OUR STOLEN PROPERTY!!!!
2. INVEST IN PREVENTION - more monitored CCTV cameras, street and city lighting, get out there and speak to community groups and raise awareness, patrol our neighbourhoods, start a hotline, monitor stolen bike marketplaces and websites. Why cant we have a monitored bike park in the city that guarantees safety? Right now, we cant go out without stressing about our bikes either outside a venue or in our homes!
3. PROMOTE THE REGISTRATION OF EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT (bikes, motorbikes etc) and MANDATE DISCLOSURE WHEN SELLING on social media. Thieves wont stand a chance!
4. MAKE POLICE PERFORMANCE TRANSPARANT by reporting against each petty theft category to include bikes, caravans and trailers so we can tell what we are looking at and can SEE IMPROVEMENT OVER TIME...

Lets see some real action! Please sign this and join me to present it in local Parliament and to our MP in the next few weeks!!!