‘Footsoldiers for police’: Citizens’ force steps up to fight car crime
A new group called the Cairns Crime Responders will take to the streets in the fight against rising offence rates and in response to senior citizens being targeted in their homes. How it will work.
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A NEW group called the Cairns Crime Responders will take to the streets in the fight against skyrocketing offence rates and defend the elderly in response to senior citizens being targeted in their homes.
On September 22, police allege four offenders broke into the home of an 88-year-old man who was assaulted and locked out of his own house.
The next day at 4am police reported an 86-year-old woman was attacked in her home by alleged thieves.
Paul Drabble will host a Zoom hook-up on Wednesday to discuss the formation of a citizens’ force to act as a buddy system for the elderly and to back up police amid a stolen car epidemic.
“It’s about building up a registry of people willing to help vulnerable people that are being targeted,” he said.
“It’s at the point that they need more resources.
“We want to bring everyone together and make more foot soldiers for the police.”
Far North Crime Inspector Kevin Goan said the Cairns community needed to come together in support of the vulnerable after recent attacks on the elderly and two Japanese women who were robbed of their hand bags in the CBD last week.
He also strongly discouraged vigilantism and said rogue groups attacking alleged teen car thieves would be charged.
“These attacks are cowardly. These young people are preying on vulnerable people,” he said.
“We as a community need to be able to support those vulnerable people that need it. And if you’re living next door to an elderly person that you know is a sole occupant of a residence, reach out to them to see how they’re travelling and what their concerns are.”
In the past four days police arrested 25 juveniles and five adults with property related offences and recovered 18 stolen vehicles.
On Monday 121 cars were stolen in the Cairns area, a significant increase on the 91 stolen last month.
A total of 983 cars have been stolen since January 1 this year.
Mr Drabble said the goal of the new group was to leverage action on crime at a state level.
It was his view police were fighting a losing battle.
“Police are losing this war, we have to work with police with a physical presence,” he said.
“Like the SES we presently need a crime response group. It will be a group of people and we will register them and build them into groups to go out and help police to see and if they get the opportunity where it’s safe to actually stop a group (of offenders), cool.
“Police morale must be low, they must be so frustrated. And I was there on Friday and they were like yeah, ‘we need help’.”
Police have urged the public to report sightings of stolen vehicles, suspicious behaviour, and property offences but have been told to not attempt any intercepts of stolen cars.
The warning comes after reports teens were bashed by bystanders after crashing a stolen car near the Spear N Tackle shop on Aumuller St at the weekend and a man was charged with chasing and assaulting a teen after his car was stolen.
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Originally published as ‘Footsoldiers for police’: Citizens’ force steps up to fight car crime
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