Social media not the place to report crime

WHEN it comes to social media engagement, Queensland Police are leaders across law enforcement agencies.

Unfortunately, Queensland Police have noticed a frustrating trend of people posting about crime or suspicious behaviour in their neighbourhood on social media without notifying police directly.

Senior Constable Aleda Day from Tablelands Crime Prevention Unit said community pages on social media sites were increasingly being used as the primary place to report crime.

“We are seeing more and more people posting on social media about incidents and in some cases not reporting the incident to police at all,” she said.

“Police do not have the resources to monitor community these pages, we need the public to be reporting offences and incidents to police, first and foremost, either through Triple Zero for emergencies or Policelink.”

The QPS website allows you to report some of the most common offences to police. It’s a “one-stop-shop” where all details, including submitting evidence like CCTV or photographs, can be captured and sent to police for investigation.

Retailers may benefit the most with some of their most common incidents of fuel drive offs, retail theft and wilful damage available at their fingertips.

There are many options available including but not limited to break-ins, stolen vehicles and property, traffic crashes and even noise complaints.

People are even able to request an update on their police report or withdraw a complaint if they no longer wished for police to proceed with the investigation.

“The online reporting option is a win-win for both you and police as time will be saved, resulting in investigations being able to be finalised faster,” Snr Const Day said.

“If your offence is not able to be reported online, Policelink (131 444) are still available to take details of the incident and then refer you to the online portal to submit further information or digital evidence.”

The online reporting option is a secure way to contact police, with any report being validated by entering valid identity information such as drivers licence details.

To update or withdraw a report, a valid police report number must be entered which corresponds to the informant or victim details.

Remember to always call Triple Zero (000) if you require police or emergency services urgently.

STUDENTS from across the Tablelands came together to go head-to-head in the zone final of the Lions Youth of the Year quest on Saturday.

It was a very close game at Mareeba’s Cedric Davies Community Hub but in the end, it was Malanda Lions Club representative Yaseen Al Kalout who took home the gold.

His speech “The Stress Speech” touched the hearts of the audience, with many people, especially his peers, relating to his message.

Yaseen spoke about how he managed to “breeze” through most of high school with minimal effort, with stress being a foreign emotion to him.

Now in Grade 12, the pressure is on and he found himself awake at 3am one day writing the speech.

“I had written about three other speeches and one night I woke up at 3am and thought ‘oh gosh, I really hate all of them’ so I pulled out my phone and just started writing,” he said.

“(Stress) is a new thing to me but I know a lot of my friends had experienced it before so I guess that is what motivated me to write it that early morning.”

This round’s impromptu questions challenged the participants greatly, being asked “who do you look up to and why?” and “what do you see is the answer to youth crime?”.

Yaseen’s answer to the first questions was “people I have grown up with” and his answer to youth crime was “solve the bigger root issues like the cost of living and violence”.

This year, Nicholas Brammer represented the Mareeba Lions Club, Mishaal Corea represented the Atherton Lions Club, Juliette Hurst represented the Yungaburra Lions Club and Daniel Shaughnessy represented the Millaa Millaa Lions Club. Yaseen will be heading to Townsville on 18 March to compete against the next speakers in Far North Queensland.