Crime Stoppers Victoria and Ballarat police will launch their 'Being Careless Could Make You Carless' campaign on Thursday.

While crime decreased this year amid COVID-19 restrictions, Crime Stoppers and police hope that crime, such as car theft, will not increase again with eased restrictions.

The campaign is being launched to remind community members to be vigilant - remove all valuables that could tempt would-be thieves and to lock cars.

Crime Statistics Agency data reveals there were 1611 thefts from motor vehicles and 702 thefts of motor vehicles in Ballarat until the year ending June 2020 - both increases from the previous year.

But Ballarat Tasking and Coordination Inspector, Paul Bertoncello, said police had noticed a significant decrease in vehicle-centric offending during the past six months.

With people home during restrictions, he said there had been a behavioural change as people had become more protective of their homes, belongings and each other.

Earlier this year, in March, police conducted an operation, called 'Operation Help Yourself', which saw them examine 80 cars parked around Ballarat. Police found that almost half of these cars were left unlocked or with valuables sitting visibly within the car.

Police repeated this exercise in September, noting that of 1182 cars checked, only 38 were left unlocked or had valuables inside.

Inspector Bertoncello encouraged people to maintain these safety precautions so there was not a resurgence in car theft.

"Vehicle theft can be the start of a perpetual crime cycle. When an offender steals a vehicle, they will likely steal petrol and when they can't steal petrol anymore, they will set the vehicle on fire and move onto the next thing," he said.

"The only way to stop vehicle-related theft is to stop the offender."

Crime Stoppers Victoria chief executive, Stella Smith, said the best way for individuals to prevent vehicle theft was to ensure they were not a target in the first place.

"It's important to lock up to ensure your car is safe at all times," she said.

"If you leave your vehicle unlocked or leave any personal items in the front or backseat, you may as well be offering criminals a free ride and a shopping trip."

She added that people should also choose a safe place to leave their keys - not near the front door.

Ms Smith encouraged the community to share any information about crimes with Crime Stoppers.

"By reporting information to Crime Stoppers, this helps police gather information to build cases and to subsequently, identify offenders and make arrests."

Vehicle-related theft or suspicious activity can be reported confidentially to Crime Stoppers at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au or on 1800 333 000