Mornington crime: Peninsula police slammed by victims of crime after Facebook post
A Facebook post which meant to encourage people to keep their property “safe and sound” has backfired on Mornington police. What do you think?
South East
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Police are under fire for a bizarre social media post that suggests being a victim of crime is “awesome”.
Mornington Peninsula police posted a message to its public Facebook page asking locals if they would consider “giving up being a victim of crime’.
The sarcastic post suggested that while it was “a lot of fun” dealing with police it would be healthier to “see other people, instead of coming to us to report crime that could have potentially been avoided.”
Crime Victims Support Association president Noel McNamara said the message was “tone deaf”.
“The police are paid to protect us, not poke fun at victims,” he said.
“They should be out there catching crooks, not shrugging their shoulders and blaming victims for the crime rate going back up.”
Mr McNamara said the post was upsetting for people who had experienced a break-in.
“How are they going to feel when they see that the police think what happened to them is a joke?”
Police added the controversial post to the Eyewatch - Mornington Peninsula Service Area Facebook page on Tuesday.
A police spokeswoman said it was removed on Wednesday after police were told of Mr McNamara’s concerns.
“The intent behind this post was to encourage crime prevention, however, it is clear upon reflection that the wording in this instance should have been more considered,” she said.
The post was part of a warning to locals that property crimes were on the rise after lockdown.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, we saw a fairly predictable decrease in property crime on the Mornington Peninsula, including thefts from vehicles and residential burglaries - seeing as everyone was home and the curfew made it harder for crooks to get around,” police posted.
“Now that the curfew has been lifted and everyone (literally everyone, judging by the traffic on Point Nepean Road and the Esplanade) is out and about again, we’ve seen a steady rise in those offences again.”
Some followers found the post funny and praised police for having “a wicked sense of humour”.
Others didn’t get the joke.
“A strong reminder that we all have a role to play in crime prevention but pulls up just short of crossing the line of victim blaming,” Sean Blake posted.
