Old fashioned habits call to help out northern suburbs struggling with shortfall of police officers

COMMUNITIES in the northern corridor are being urged to look out for their neighbours in an old-fashioned bid to help out struggling police officers.

Dominique Lummus, of the Oxenford Neighbourhood Watch.

COMMUNITIES in the northern corridor are being urged to look out for their neighbours in an old-fashioned bid to help out struggling police officers.

Dominique Lummus, area co-ordinator for the massive Oxenford Neighbourhood Watch — one of the largest in Queensland — called on locals to do their bit to help keep their suburbs safe and take the load off police.

“We encourage residents to increase their alertness and use good old-fashioned neighbourliness to report any suspicious activity. We want them to go back to this old-fashioned stuff, which works,” she said.

“And we stress it’s not just about reporting suspicious activity. When you see something suspicious happening, take some mental notes about a make or model of car, the height of the person and what he or she is wearing,” she said.

“Take note of tattoos. They are fantastic for identifying people. Notice things that a person can’t hide or change — something a friend would know them by.”

Mrs Lummus called on residents to record facts so that they presented a good report to police.

“And if it’s safe, take photos or videos of what’s happening,” she said.

The Oxenford Neighbourhood Watch covers 2000 homes and has had great success in reducing crime in suburbs such as Regatta Waters.

“We had communities such as Regatta Waters which were plagued with burglaries and opportunistic theft,” she said.

“However, since residents have become more vigilant and more conscientious about details, things have improved greatly there.”

Mrs Lummus has been involved with the community group for the past 10 years and it maintains a good working relationship with police.

“Our stance is always to support the officer in charge of the local police station,” she said.

“We are disappointed that the northern corridor won’t get the officers it needs, Crime is a state issue and if we don’t get state support, it’s a very sad day indeed.”

Mrs Lummus said there were other things the community could do to help police.

“Let’s use the proper channels to report crime. The 131 444 police link number should be called to address most non-urgent, life-threatening issues,” she said.

“People need to stop clogging the 000 number with minor issues.”