Let's get this out of the way, your Perth Hack of the day is to store 131 444 in your phone under Police. Now, don't be afraid to use it. One of the biggest problems in Perth is the apathy of residents towards crime. When someone sustains a near break-in, they don't report it citing that they can't be bothered or they don't know what to do.
Have you had stolen property dumped at your house? report it. If its not claimed in 28 days it can be yours anyway.
If you notice some suspicious activity on your street and let's face it, your instinct says "don't bother the police" but you also feel you must do something. If your local council has such a service, you can call for example, Melville security on 1300 653 643. They respond to incidents which may not be serious enough for police but if it is, they are quick to get in contact with police. So if in doubt and you don't want to use 131 444, call security at least.
Does it make a difference? Once I had some property stolen from my car at Hoyts Garden City. I went home only to decide to return to the scene in the hope that I would find my stuff dumped somewhere as I didn't think they would be interested in university notes. When i returned, the security were standing nearby with two kids sitting on the curb. I approached security and told them what had happened. I mentioned some of the things that were stolen and his eyes lit up. He noticed one of the kids playing with a small ipod type thing and said, is this the one? I said yes. Needless to say, he was taken away when the police arrived and in his fear, also told the police where he had thrown my bag. I was able to get it back and had everything inside.
Here's an idea, leave a comment below if you recently reported an incident to police or security. DO NOT mention specific house addresses or anything, just the nature of the incident. and the rough area it occurred in. Hopefully this will be an encouragement to other people to do the same when they notice something in their (or your) area.
When the community decides it won't tolerate crime in their area, opportunistic crimes will not occur as often.