Shockingly, eight out of 10 homes which are broken into have either their doors or windows unlocked, and eight out of 10 cars are stolen using the owner's keys.

Likewise, the latest crime stats released last month revealed stealing from a motor vehicle was the crime category with the biggest increase, with 133 thefts reported in the 12 months leading up to December 2020 compared with 284 the following year.

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At the time, Chifley Police District's highest ranking officer, Superintendent Bob Noble, said it was a frustrating result for police, who he said work hard to deliver community safety messages to prevent people falling victim to crime.

"Frequently those cars are either left unlocked and/or with valuables in them, so that's a crime category that is generally fairly easy to drive down with co-operation from the public," he said.

"This is not victim-blaming, of course, it's people being aware and vigilant.

"It's easy to forget and get complacent; people get home from work and they are tired, they don't take the laptop out of the car because they are forgetful ... so that's frustrating.

"It's not the victim's fault, but we as a community can protect ourselves a little bit better."

To help the community do just that, officers from Chifley Police District are launching the Lock It Or Lose It NSW Police Force crime prevention initiative.

Chief Inspector Glenn Cogdell announced the campaign this week, saying it aims to give the community a range of preventative measures which make it more difficult for offenders to steal from a home, shed or car.

He said the measures may seem obvious, but are not always put in place, which makes it easy for the opportunistic thief.

He said the campaign was all about prevention.

"Lock it or you lose it is what we are promoting," he said.

"This campaign is all about reducing crimes of opportunity, reducing vehicle and property theft.

"People have probably seen the signs in the car parks around town, reminding them to lock their cars and not leave valuables in sight. What we are pushing is prevention for both motor vehicles and homes.

"There are a number of ways you can protect your property through prevention, which include making sure valuables are out of sight, that you're locking up your house, that you're locking up your car.

"When you go to work, lock your house.

"These are opportunistic crimes.

"If you are not doing things to prevent the crime occurring, then people take advantage of that. That's what we are working on - prevention.

"We want to prevent it [theft] from happening."

He said people can go to the NSW Police website for suggestions and advice - which, among other things, suggests people secure their property and, if possible, install CCTV and recording equipment as a cost-effective preventative measure and powerful investigative tool.

Other tips include:

NSW Police can provide assistance in the form of home/business security audits in addition to the measures provided.

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