Police chiefs in south Bristol said they are checking who has just been released from prison as they investigate a spate of car break-ins and vandalism across Bedminster, Southville and Ashton.
Officers went door-to-door in much of the area yesterday (Tuesday) and said they are stepping up patrols to try to crack down on the problem.
Local councillor Charlie Bolton (Green, Southville) collected reports of cars being broken into or having their windows or wing mirrors smashed in more than 30 different streets, with as many as 40 or 50 individual vehicles targeted in the past couple of weeks.
The area that has seen the sudden rise in car crime and vandalism stretches from the streets around the Ashton Gate Stadium, the river in Southville, across Ashton and Bedminster to Victoria Park.
House to house inquiries were being carried out in The Chessels in Bedminster on Tuesday and some streets of Southville too, with police asking for incidents to be reported, or for witnesses to come forward.
Residents were told: “We are receiving reports of an increase in parked vehicles being damaged within your community. Your local Neighbourhood Policing team will be conducting high visibility patrols around the hotspot areas along with engaging with community groups and speaking with local residents.”
Some local residents said they have been left frustrated by the police response when reporting that their vehicles had been damaged or stolen from.
“I think there should be fingerprint (tests) carried out, considering the size of the crimewave,” said Dave Costello, who said several of his neighbours had cars damaged in the Upton Road area of Southville.
“The CCTV from the Upton Rd school should carry evidence as one of the car break ins was directly below the camera,” he added.
Insp Steph Green, who leads the Bristol South Neighbourhood policing team from Broadbury Road police station in Knowle, wrote to Cllr Bolton and other community leaders, to reassure them that the police were taking it seriously.
“I want to reassure you that we are taking the matter very seriously,” she said.
“I became aware of the problem on my return from leave yesterday and since then have ensured that a team of officers are out of foot conducting high visibility reassurance patrols in the area.
“In addition I have asked officers to complete a letter drop in all houses of the streets targeted to enable us to gather as much intelligence as possible.
“I have also raised this matter for discussion at our Local Tasking meeting so we can discuss the need of extra resources to cover night time patrols in the area.
“We are conducting checks on the latest prison releases to try and identify any possible suspects as well as circulating descriptions given so far,” she added.
Insp Green said the last lockdown saw an increase in thefts from motor vehicles. “We will work hard to try and prevent this from happening again,” she added.
