CCTV Camera systems have become an extremely valuable tool by which police are able to detect criminals and solve crime thus stopping further offences from occurring. I can think of many times where minor and major incidents have been solved by a simple image captured on a CCTV camera system.

One that comes to mind in the recent past is the case of 29 year old Melbourne woman Jill Meagher when she was attacked, raped and murdered on the streets of Melbourne in 2012.

Initially her case was treated as a missing person inquiry however upon investigation a full blown murder investigation was launched by Victorian police. All available CCTV footage in the area where she went missing was obtained and painstakingly examined and a breakthrough in the case came when Jill was seen walking past a shop window front with a male following close behind.

History will tell that 6 days later, Jill’s body was found dumped on the side of a road 50 km’s away. Police initially had no leads however the vital footage captured on a small $500 CCTV camera installed by a shop owner was the vital piece of evidence that allowed police to quickly identify the offender and prevent further offences from occurring.

In my time as Officer in Charge of the Cooroy Police station I have utilised CCTV footage from a number of the larger businesses of Cooroy to solve such crimes as Armed Robbery, Assault Occasioning Grievous Bodily Harm, Burglary and break and enter offences.

In the past CCTV systems where seen as expensive with only the larger businesses being able to afford them however as with most technology the costs have now dramatically decreased to the point where good quality stand-alone systems can be purchased and installed at minimal cost to  better protect them from being victims of crime.

In another proactive approach at keeping Cooroy safe, The Cooroy Chamber of Commerce has initiated discussions with a CCTV Specialist who has provided advice and costings on what can be provided to small business owners and at what cost. The Chamber are also involved in discussions in regards applying to have a system installed at several points around town to monitor public space however at this stage Government grants etc are not available so these discussions have been placed on hold pending further advice.

Believe it or not, Cooroy has just under 200 businesses and shops within a compact Central Business District and Industrial Area. If we could get 5 to 10 percent of these shops to install their own CCTV Systems, which in many cases would be tax deductable, Cooroy would go a long way to better protecting itself from crime and going one step further once criminals became aware of this, deter those criminals from committing offences in Cooroy and simply go someplace else.

The Chamber of Commerce with the help of the Cooroy Police Volunteer in policing, Anne Winnings are asking for expressions of interest from member of the business community who would like further information in regards costings and types of systems available.

It is envisioned that if we received enough expressions of interest an information night will be organised. Of course this would all be obligation free and completely reliant upon the individual business needs.

We are seeking expressions of interest in this Cooroy CCTV initiative. Please contact the local Volunteer in Police, Anne Winning at Winning.Anne@police.qld.gov.au   to register your interest. Expressions of interest can be forwarded to Anne up until 28 December 2015.

Please think carefully about this initiative as I am often asked by members of the community on how best to protect themselves from crime and how to best help police solve crime and I am in no doubt that this initiative will go a long way in further reducing crime in Cooroy.

Regards,

Sgt Mal SCOTT

On the 25^th of January, 2016 Cooroy Police attempted to intercept a dark Green Toyota Corolla Hatchback in Factory St, Pomona. The vehicle failed to stop as required and sped off at high speed to avoid the police. Due to the danger such driving represented to the public, police and also the offending occupants of the car police did not pursue the car.

An investigation into the identification of the driver of the car has led to a 23 year old Cootharaba man being charged with Evading Police and Disqualified Driving and his car has been impounded for a period of 90 days. The driver now faces a court appearance in the Noosa Heads Magistrates Court charged with serious driving offences with mandatory fines of $2000 applicable and 2 years license disqualification.

Thank you to the members of the Pomona community who assisted Cooroy police with solving this serious offence and it is pleasing to note that the support we get from the community is assisting the Police Service in keeping the community safe.

With the increase of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) devices being deployed to monitor the safe passage of motor vehicles on public roads it has become increasingly important to make sure you keep your car registration and driver’s license up to date including your address and contact details through the Department of Transport and Main Roads. (TMR)

With today’s increasingly busy life style it is very easy to overlook the due dates for car rego’s and drivers licenses so people need to be very aware of the severe consequences for failing to keep these very important documents up to date.

By keeping your address up to date through the TMR it ensures you receive your reminder renewal notices in the mail.

If you move and the notice gets sent to an old address that is no excuse when found driving unregistered or unlicensed.

The best case scenario is that you only receive fines of between $100 and $800 from the police as the worst case scenario is that you have an accident and due to an oversight on your behalf your insurance refuses to pay which can cost $50,000 or more in repair costs.

Repeat offenders for this type of offence also face having their car impounded or immobilised for between 7 and 90 days and having the car forfeited to the crown and sold at auction.

To make doubly sure you don’t overlook your due dates set reminders on your smart devices so you just can’t forget as we are detecting more and more normally law abiding citizens driving whilst not registered and licensed. The law is very clear on placing the onus on the driver of any vehicle and for that matter the owner of any vehicle to ensure the vehicle they are driving or the person driving there vehicle is properly able to do so.

To help out the community I can provided the following information on how best to check up on car registrations and Driver’s license statuses.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads provide a number of methods to check your driver’s licence and vehicle registration including:

• Attending any Department of Transport and Main Roads office in person.
• Calling the Department of Transport and Main Roads on 13 23 80.
• Physically viewing the expiry date on your driver’s licence or vehicle registration paperwork.

New methods have also recently been made available by the TMR which include:

• Viewing the Department of Transport and Main Roads website to check the status of your driver’s licence or vehicle registration.

For vehicle registration inquiries use this link: www.qld.gov.au/checkrego

For driver licence inquiries use this link: www.qld.gov.au/checkdriverlicence

• Downloading the QLD Rego Check App from iTunes App Store or Google Play Store for your mobile device.

For iTunes App Store use this link:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/qld-rego-check/id919723338?mt=8

For Google Play Store use this link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmr.checkrego&hl=en

Personal details of the vehicle owner are not displayed during this search.

The owner of any vehicle can check the driver licence status of any person using their vehicle using the above mentioned online driver licence check.

This is particularly useful for companies who provide authorisation to employees to use company vehicles.

Again personal details of the licence holder are not displayed and only basic details including the status of the licence are shown.

Kind Regards

Sgt. Mal SCOTT

A recent event that occurred in a Noosa Hinterland town highlights the need for shopkeepers and members of the community to be vigilant in regards shop security as well as credit/debit card security.

Shopkeepers need to be very aware of locking access points to their shops at all times when the shop is not attended even during business hours. Rear doors should always be locked even when the shop is attended as offenders use detraction tactics to lure shop attendants to the front of the store so co offenders can access the shop from the rear and steal staff wallets and purses etc.

Recently, a shop owner left the shop for a very short time for a toilet break and during that time offenders have entered the shop and stole a wallet and credit cards. The offenders then proceeded to use one of the stolen cards to make purchases under $100 using the pay wave system.

The card owner realised his wallet was missing almost immediately and cancelled all but one of his cards which he had forgotten about. This card was then used in 30 odd Fraud related offences by the offenders purchasing items with the stolen card.

Due to the vigilance and good work of a fellow business owner attending police were quickly able to positively identify the main offender and commence an investigation which has now led to the Noosa CIB arresting a 24 year old Tewantin man for 30 Fraud related offences.

Police employ a number of intelligence based systems to track offenders committing this style offence, one of which is reviewing shop CCTV footage to capture images of suspects. If you are a shop owner who is yet to enter the world of technology please give serious consideration to installing a CCTV system within your shop as this not only deters offenders it also greatly increases the likelihood of the offender being caught by police. Reduced Insurance premiums and Tax deductions are an added incentive when considering installing a CCTV system.

Shop attendants also need to be suspicious of persons entering their stores wearing caps, sunglasses and hoodies as this can often be a sign that a person has unlawful intent.

Another give away is an offender wanting to use the card multiple times in the same shop using the pay wave system to make purchases under $100. This behaviour is obviously very suspicious so in this instance do not hesitate to either ask for Identification or simply request that the person insert or swipe his card and enter his pin.

If you are suspicious of a particular person a registration number of the car they leave in is also of great assistance to police should an offence be committed.

Driver drug testing will continue in Cooroy with members of the State Road Policing Command and Local police conducting random interception sites with the specific intent of testing drivers for the presence of drugs in there system.

Drivers who use illicit drugs should be very aware that legislation now exists which creates the offence of Drug driving simply by the presence of drugs being in there system which is not like the rules related to alcohol were a prescribed amount is mentioned in the charge and an offence is only committed once that prescribed threshold is reached.

If you take illicit drugs DO NOT Drive. Mandatory license disqualification and fines exist for this offence. You have been warned.

On a different topic and if you enjoy being better informed by what is happening in your community from a policing perspective can I encourage you to have a look at the My Police Sunshine Coast Blog Site which is a site used by the Queensland Police Service to issue crime alerts and provide community news. Once you visit the site you can subscribe to the site and receive regular updates sent to your device of choice.

Regards,

Mal Scott

Sgt 5485