As the Auckland crime wave continues, tradesmen are being hit in the pocket as thieves target their tools to sell on online marketplaces.

But many are taking tracking down offenders into their own hands as Cheree Kinnear reports.

When Braden Barker found his tools listed on Facebook Marketplace - 26 hours after they were stolen from his car - he thought he'd got lucky.

His initials were still marked on the battery power packs of his seven-piece kit.

"I just thought that's my stuff," the 20-year-old apprentice told the Herald.

The first piece of advice he'd got from senior work colleagues was to "check Marketplace".

He just didn't expect the alleged thief to be quite so obvious.

"There was no concern from the thief to hide his identity, scratch off my name, my initials on the tools. It was brazen," he said.

"There was no care from him at all. And it's obvious that he knows he can get away with it."

Barker had a friend message the seller with the plan to pose as a potential buyer and arrange to meet up - something he said many builders are being forced to do nowadays.

He then contacted police to ask for an officer to accompany him in retrieving his tools but couldn't be guaranteed a unit would be available and was advised not to approach the man.

"I'm at this time like, 'well, I need to get my stuff back. This is my job. This is my livelihood. I'm going with or without you', at which point I was requested to go to North Shore Police Station to meet with the sergeant on duty.

"He essentially explained to me they had three cars on shift for the North Shore community at that time and obviously if there was something more serious, that they wouldn't be able to attend.

"It's like you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't."

Barker decided against his original plan but had work colleagues in the area who were able to identify his tools, note down the man's number plate and take a description.

In his most recent communication with police, Barker was told a person of interest had been identified but not yet located.

Barker is just one of many in the building industry who have been forced to take matters into their own hands against who he describes as "criminals who have the run of the mill."

Second-year apprentice Braden Barker. Photo / Jed Bradley

He said they're "frustrated" at the lack of action.

"You can do all the hard work, you can say here's the guy, here's my stuff, he's here at this time and they can't even turn up. That's the worst part for me, is people aren't feeling safe, people aren't feeling supported.

"They can say it's a resource issue, but they're aware of the issue. What's being done?"

A police spokesperson said they were "comfortable with resourcing levels, however, continue to deploy resource where there is demand for service".

"This means prioritising deploying our staff to incidents involving risk, such as threats of violence against a person or property.

"We are always looking at ways to improve our service to all of the communities in our area."

When asked about stolen goods being listed on its site, Facebook's owner Meta said it prohibits the sale of stolen items on Marketplace and "strongly encourage people to report items that may be stolen".

They added that they work closely with New Zealand police to tackle the issue