CRIME happens everywhere, the larger the population … the higher a crime rate.
Ipswich Crime Prevention Unit OIC Sgt Nadine Webster regularly meets residents and business owners, teaching them how to keep themselves and their livelihoods safe.
Her talks are informative, practical and there’s steps to follow should the worst happen.
She also explains the value of Crime Stoppers.
“Crime Stoppers are independent to the Queensland Police Service and a not-for-profit community volunteer organisation,” she said.
“We have a Queensland Police Crime Stoppers unit and that liaises with Crime Stoppers.”
She explained when information about a crime was reported, informant information remained confidential.
“If you want to remain anonymous and wish to receive a reward, they’ll issue you a code.
“At no stage will they ask you for any information.
“You could ring back in six month’s time and say, ‘this is my code, am I eligible for an award?’.
“If you are, you choose a bank suitable to you, go in and ask for the bank manager, give them the code and they hand over the money.
“At no point are you asked to provide any personal details.”
She stressed Crime Stoppers was not about reporting crime that had just happened.
“It could be to say, ‘I was at the pub on a Friday night having a sherbet and I overheard such and such saying they broke into a house’,” she said.
Making your business or home harder to rob is important.
“Believe it or not offenders can be lazy and pick on vulnerability,” she said.
“CCTV cameras are great but they’re not stand alone, if you think having that is your level of security then I encourage you to think a bit further.
“Make your business hard to enter, have good lighting and make it known there’s security like an alarm.”
Sgt Webster and her team travel around offering free security audits.
They come to businesses and homes, explaining the best way to protect your company or family.
“The other thing we offer is training for staff, we talk to them about personal safety strategies and dealing with agressive clients,” she said.
“If you have a business we consider high risk of an armed robbery, like a licensed premise, we talk about armed robbery awareness as well.”
Something handy is a ruler printed on carboard officers distribute to business owners.
It’s similar to one used by parents to measure a child’s growth, but this one is purely for ‘perps’.
“It gets stuck up on a wall near the entrance and if you’re robbed, look and see how tall the person is on the ruler,” she said.
“That way when we ask for a description, you know exactly how tall they were.”
THE NUMBERS
QUEENSLAND Police Service crime statistics for Rosewood and regions around it to Mount Mort from January until now show theft offences (11) are the most common act of criminality.
Next up are traffic related offences (9) followed by drug offences (7) and property damage (7).
There were five assault charges, three for arson and two for unlawful entry.
Saturday is a big day for offending with charges quadrupling compared to other days of the week.
In total, 47 offences were committed and logged by police on the Online Crime Map.
