Many stolen cars are abandoned after the offender uses them for a joyride, with some used to commit other crimes. Though a percentage wind up being torched, and this offence has recently increased again.

Detective Senior Sergeant Shaun Bingham said last year saw crime decrease across the board amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the current crime rate in relation to car theft and arson remaining relatively consistent with what was seen last year.

Detective Senior Sergeant Bingham said there were a number of car fires during the first few months of this year, which had escalated to about 10 throughout the month of April.

"We have had a minor trend upwards for April.

"It may look as though there is a wave of car fires but the reality is that at any given time it's likely to be one or maybe two individuals who are quite actively committing crimes and have that proclivity to burn cars," Detective Senior Sergeant Bingham explained.

"That is until such time as we can get enough evidence to pull them in and charge them."

Detective Senior Sergeant Bingham said car fires were a visible crime and could cause the community to feel they are more prevalent than they are.

"Thieves who have a proclivity to burn cars that they steal makes the theft and the dumping of the car more visible so people get the sense that it's a prevalent crime when in reality it might only be one or two offenders doing it at any given time."

While the act of burning a stolen car is traumatic for the victim and has a significant impact, he said arson represented a small percentage of the region's total crime rate.

According to the Crime Statistics Agency, there were 441 motor vehicle thefts and 75 arson offences in the year ending 2020, compared to 753 thefts and 156 arson offences in the year ending 2019. Publicly available data has not yet been released for 2021.

Detective Senior Sergeant Bingham said the number of car fires this year was "significantly down on the numbers at the same time of year in 2019".

"It is about 59 per cent lower," he said, adding that community safety was a top priority and that police had made "inroads" in the issue.

"We have had significant improvements in terms of the incidences of vehicle arson over the last few years," he said, though adding it was "a bit cyclical."

He said some offenders believed that burning a car after they steal it would destroy evidence, but this was a misconception.

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"There's a foolish notion amongst car thieves that if they burn the vehicles then they are destroying evidence and makes it more difficult for us to catch them, when in reality it just presents our evidence in a different form.

"It doesn't destroy the evidence - it may alter the evidence - but it just means we gather it in a different form.

"It doesn't have any significant impact on our solvability for the theft of the motor car - all it does is give us an opportunity to give them a serious charge of arson in addition to the theft of the motor car."

The community can also help to reduce theft from and of vehicles.

"We are still seeing a lot of theft from motor cars, but also theft of cars where the vehicle was unlocked or unsecured at night and this creates opportunities for thieves.

"Securing your property and your own personal valuables is always a good practice, so make sure your cars are locked and as secure as you can make them when you leave them anywhere.

"It's not going to prevent every crime but it may very well stop the opportunist, the person who walks along just trying door handles until he finds one that's open. Those sort of thieves can very well be deterred by cars that are secure and safe and with no visible valuables in them.

"If you've got something that's worth protecting, then do your best to protect it."

Detective Senior Sergeant Bingham said information from the public was vital for police to do their job in apprehending offenders, and often meant they could do so more quickly.

"If you do know or see something, report it to us. Anonymity is not an issue but get the information to us because it could very well be the thing we are looking for."

In an emergency, always call 000. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or to submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au