Geelong businesses turn to social media to shame thieves and fight petty crime
Forget calling police – a business owner's cheeky Facebook posts about thieves have created an unlikely crime-fighting phenomenon across Geelong.
Fed up local businesses are taking justice into their own hands to combat petty crime, with the help of a cult status Facebook page.
Geelong Name and Shame, a page with almost 20,000 members, has become home to much of the city’s grassroots online discourse over the past few years.
For Sash Arsenijevic, it’s a lighthearted way to deal with constant theft at his Bell Post Hill laundromat.
Mr Arsenijevic, a project manager by profession, opened the laundromat about three years ago.
His first exposure to petty crime came not long after picking up the keys.
“It happened straight away,” he said.
“I used to leave a pack of disinfectant wipes out for the customers, but I noticed people were just taking them, walking straight in and walking straight out.
“They’d obviously seen them there, and then would just come in and take them, it was like a free for all.
“It was a huge shock, the entitlement of it all.”
The thefts continued – as Mr Arsenijevic put it “anything that wasn’t bolted down” was being stolen.
After a couple of dealings with local police over other issues, Mr Arsenijevic decided he didn’t want to waste their time and took the issue into his own hands.
Mr Arsenijevic began posting videos of culprits to Geelong Name and Shame “out of frustration”.
“If people are made accountable, they may stop.
“It’s like ‘come on,’ I have CCTV placed so that people can see it’s there, but they don’t care.
“I thought this would be an ideal way to shame people into taking accountability for their behaviour.”
The videos have worked, according to Mr Arsenijevic.
“(The response has) been pretty good,” he said.
“I think it has deterred some people, a lot of people who have been featured on there make contact and say ‘hey, sorry, I’ve made a mistake’ and they do bring stuff back.
Mr Arsenijevic has decided to have fun with it too, making light of a frustrating situation.
“I used to be pretty blunt with it, I’d write ‘hey, you stole this, give it back’,” he said.
“I've sort of mellowed out a little bit, I like to make lighthearted comments now.
“I say ‘you borrowed this for a few days, can you bring it back now?’ stuff like that, just to make it a bit less accusatory.”
They aren’t the only business doing it.
A string of Premix King shops across town consistently post the hijinks that occur at their stores, proudly describing alleged thieves as “geese”.
Mr Arsenijevic said the goal of posting wasn’t to “embarrass anyone”.
“It’s a family run business and most of the customers are great,” he said.
“The posts remind people that looking after community spaces keeps them affordable for everyone.
“I just want people to treat it with the same respect they expect at home.”
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the organisation didn’t condone the method.
“Police would recommend matters are reported to police and for police to manage,” she said.
“It is important police are aware of what is happening in the local community.”
william.keech@news.com.au
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Originally published as Geelong businesses turn to social media to shame thieves and fight petty crime
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