New website shows crime stats on interactive map

Queensland Police have just launched a new website which shows crime stats on an interactive map.

You can specify areas such as postcodes (eg enter 4032 to view our local area) or specific Neighbourhood Watch areas and you can also specify a particular date range. You can also narrow down the search by particular types of offences.

Note that to select a NHW area you need to type a zero in front of the number for single digit numbered areas, so for Carseldine 6 you would need to enter it as Carseldine 06.

Once you have made your selections, dots will appear on the map showing the number of crimes in that area. Hover your mouse over the numeral and a number of dots appear around the number, each dot representing a specific reported offence. If you hover your mouse over one of the dots, it will show a summary of the offence and indicate whether or not it has yet been solved.

Note that dots are located near where the offence occurred, but for privacy reasons it will not show the exact address.

It will be updated every night but the data will be up to one week old. So for example, on Thursday it will show data up to Thursday of the previous week. Data will be loaded for the last 13 years.

To have a look at the map, go to: http://www.police.qld.gov.au/forms/CrimeStatsDesktop.asp

Local Crime Stats - May

There were no reported offences in our NHW area in May.

However, there were reported offences in nearby NHW areas, including West Chermside, so it is important that we always remain vigilant and take precautions to ensure our safety and protect our property.

In particular, nearby offences included:

Opening letterboxes. Tip - lock your letterbox with a good quality padlock. Thieves can take items such as credit cards from letterboxes, but even other mail can be used by criminals to steal your identity so it is important to protect your mailbox.

Entering house through unlocked door while occupants were working in the garden. Tip - always keep the doors locked, even when home, especially when out in the garden, doing the laundry etc. Don't forget to take the key with you - you might like to keep it on a cord that you can hang around your neck so you don't lose it while gardening).

Stealing of motor vehicle - may have been unlocked and key may have been left in the ignition. Tip - ensure car is always locked and keep the keys hidden. As was mentioned at one of our recent NHW update meetings, modern cars are now very difficult to steal without the keys, and so many car thieves break into homes specifically to get the car keys. Don't make it easy for them by leaving the keys out in plain sight on the kitchen bench or a keyhook etc. Put them away out of sight.

Police request help to identify potential crime sites

A message from Carseldine Crime Prevention:

At approximately 1735hrs on Thursday 30^th May 2013 on Lacey Rd (near the intersection with Beams Rd) Carseldine a woman was raped while walking home.  This offence was facilitated by utilising the overgrown footpath as cover for the offender.

It is requested that whilst out and about in the Carseldine division particular attention is paid to public areas such as parks, walkways and footpaths for areas that are overgrown and pose a risk to public safety.  Should any such areas be observed please notify me ASAP so I can arrange for the council to rectify.

The QPS needs your help to identify areas that have the potential to become sites of crime due to overgrown foliage, poor lighting etc.

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In our own NHW area, our Area Co-ordinator has been following up with Cr Fiona King’s office about the installation of lights in Huxtable Park, as mentioned at our last Update meeting.

Cr King’s office has advised that there has been a hold up with supply of light poles but they anticipate having the lights operating by 30 June.

Turning the screws on crime

The Brisbane West Crime Prevention Unit is offering residents the opportunity to have ‘one way’ screws attached to their vehicle number plates.

These prevent thieves stealing your number plates.

Police will be available to fit these special screws free of charge.

 

DATE: Wednesday 12 June 2103

TIME: between 11 am and 1 pm

PLACE: Brookside Shopping Centre – East Car Park – outside Woolworths.

One way screws prevent thieves stealing your number plates as they can only be removed by the police with a special tool.

Keeping children safe in car seats

Up to ninety-three percent of child car restraints in Queensland are incorrectly installed or used, according to a recent study by Kidsafe  - a non-government, not-for-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injuries.

They concluded that this places too many of our babies, toddlers and children at risk of serious injury or death in the event of a car accident.

Kidsafe recently visited a major regional centre in Queensland and found that 93% of child car restraints checked did not secure children safely.

Kidsafe and a local news network randomly selected cars at a North Side shopping centre to check the child car restraints and found 100% of the restraints checked put the kids at risk. Most common problem found was harnesses not at the right height for the child, twisted straps, seat belts and tether straps.

An analysis from Kidsafe’s Brisbane child car restraint checking and fitting centre confirmed that between 70 and 90% of child car restraints were not correctly used, installed or the right restraint for the child.

It is essential when installing a child car restraint to read the instructions carefully. The instruction booklet will tell you how to use the child car restraint, how to install it and what child the car restraint is suitable for.  

Many people are also not sure of the child car restraint laws and are selecting the wrong restraint for their baby or child. If there are any doubts people can call Kidsafe on 3854 1829 for clarification of the rules or how to use a child car restraint.  

Further information is also available at their website http://www.kidsafeqld.com.au/

Scam Watch

Residents who attended our last update meeting will recall a local resident reported a possible scam phone call she received from someone claiming to be from the “National Mortgage Compensation Scheme”.

Even if there was such a scheme, the Government would not normally cold call residents and ask for their details.

It serves as a reminder to always be wary of any unexpected phone calls, particularly if they try to obtain your personal information (after all, if they really were calling from a government department they would probably already have your information in their records).

The same applies for phone calls and emails purporting to come from credit card companies and banks asking you to provide information so they can “verify” your details.

Information about common scams is available on the Office of Fair Trading website or the Australian Government’s Scamwatch website.

If you think you’ve spotted a scam, you can let the Office of Fair Trading know about it by clicking here and completing their online form.

Your report can help put a stop to the scam and stop others from being caught out.

If you have been the victim of a scam, you can make a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading by clicking here.

Crime trends and prevention - news from our last update

If you missed our NHW Update meeting on Thursday night, you missed out on hearing our guest speaker Sen. Const. Donna Burley talk about crime trends and crime prevention.

She advised that unfortunately our NHW area had 2 cases of wilful damage in February and 2 break and enters in March, although nothing has been reported for April.

Regarding wilful damage, there seems to have been a spate of cars being scratched by objects such as keys or coins etc.

Across the district, there is a trend of break and enters happening when people are actually at home, and we are aware of at least one such incident in our NHW area recently. It can happen day or night.

During the day, they can sneak in an open door while you are out in the garden, doing the mowing or hanging out the laundry etc. Donna recommended locking the door when you go out in the yard, especially when no one else is home. She suggested carrying the keys with you on a lanyard.

There has also been a number of entrances through higher balconies and second story windows, which are often left unlocked. It is important to keep these secure, even if they appear too high for people to enter.

Car registration plates are being stolen and often used in petrol drive-offs. Carseldine Police Station can replace your rego plate screws with “one-way” screws that can only be removed with a special tool.

Since modern cars can now only be started with the keys, car keys are being stolen from inside homes and used to take the car. Donna recommended always keeping the car keys hidden out of sight.

Donna also asked if people could report to Policelink (131 444) if you see people lurking around or going in and out of yards. The police can take these people’s details and this information is often useful in apprehending offenders if a break-in is later reported in the area.

Donna also assigned “homework” to those residents who were there, handing out a Home Security Audit to complete, allowing us to access our level of home security. If anyone completes this and finds they have a lot of areas where their security is lacking, Donna is happy to come out to your home and provide advice on making your home more secure.

If you missed out on this sheet and would like a copy, please email us at carseldine6NHW@gmail.com and we can send you a copy.

Donna also handed out a number of brochures including a very handy Property Identification sheet explaining how to keep an inventory of your property to assist police in recovering stolen items or to help with insurance claims and how you can mark your property to assist police to identify ownership of recovered items.

“No Door to Door” stickers were also handed out.

In response to a resident explaining about a scam they had recently experienced, Donna advised that she can also supply a “Little Black Book of Scams” explaining what to watch out for.

Residents who missed out on any of these and would like to obtain them can contact Donna at Carseldine Police Station.

If you missed our update meeting, we hope you can come along to the next one which will be on the 1^st of August. This will also be our AGM.