And that certainly appears to be what local police are finding as they (again) urge people to take the simplest of steps to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

The Western Advocate today reports on a recent spate in thefts and break-ins over the past week which have, naturally, angered and shocked the victims in equal measure.

None of us likes the idea of a stranger entering our car or our home and we'd all prefer it simply didn't happen.

But the reality is that there are people out there who, for a variety of reasons, see taking what's not theirs as either a right or an obligation. However, that does not mean we have to help them.

We all owe it to ourselves and our neighbours to make life as hard as we can for crooks.

The whole community has a role to play in preventing crime in the first place by taking simple steps such as securing our homes and not leaving valuables in the car.

Rarely are break-ins the result of carefully planned assaults from local criminal gangs; much more often they come from people providing an opportunity to people whose eyes might focus on different things to the rest of us.

They are people who have trained themselves to spot an unlocked window or door from across the road and have no hesitation in taking advantage of the chances offered to them.

Nothing the police can do can change that; only the rest of us can make that difference. And no matter how much money the state throws at law and order, the police can never be in all places at all times.

And when they're not around, it's up to the law-abiding men and women of Bathurst to be their eyes and ears.

Good police work relies on good information and, primarily, that information must come from regular people who have seen or heard something out of the ordinary.

And locking our doors, not leaving valuables in the car and not taking our eyes off our bags at the shops can make crooks' lives more difficult and officers' lives much easier.

Police who do not have to investigate petty, opportunistic crimes have more time available for the jobs we want them to be doing.

We must work together to make the Bathurst region the best, and safest, it can be.