No help from the Police...STILL

@34 ooh, ooh, ooh … A hard man steps forth. I suspect ‘Tooks’ is getting a French Polish so you’d better wait ’till his mummy says it’s OK to go out after dark!

Well it looks like you are not taking peoples advice and still having a winge. Come on big boy, the least you can do is advise what street the problems are occuring, perhaps your fellow Isabella Plainers can help out? I have offered to help.

milkman said :

Many years ago we had a similar problem. It was dealt with by catching the offenders and having a little chat. They never came near our house again.

I should probably clarify: no violence was involved.

Many years ago we had a similar problem. It was dealt with by catching the offenders and having a little chat. They never came near our house again.

I always find it interesting that the RiotACT crowd, which tends towards the Laura Norder side of things (ie. baying for blood) also tends towards the blame the victim side of things.

If the fuzz aren’t even coming out when there is damage to property that is a pretty poor effort. As far as I’m aware you need a police report if you want to claim on your insurance against acts of vandalism.

Crimes like the one described in the OP are, IMHO, the ones that need to be dealt with the most proactively. They threaten people’s sense of security in their own homes (which is where we should feel the most secure – even if the streets aren’t safe, at least I have a refuge in my home). Failure to even try to find the people responsible sends to these kids, from a very young age, that committing crime has no consequences and only encourages them to continue.

Kids doing this type of thing would be the type to roam the streets all night. It’s not like they would go to this person’s house, smash a few windows and go home for some milo and a bedtime story. A simple police patrol crusing the streets and local parks, etc would find them pretty quickly. There would be at least one kid in the group who would crack and confess if given a bit of a scare by the cops.

As far as the vigilante suggestions go… if you were to wait in ambush with a few mates in order to confront these kids and break one of their arms, I can guarantee that you will find yourself in the dock.

BenMac said :

Was anyone injured? No.

.

Intimidation and therefore psychological injury and assault? Yes, actually.

Had a similar issue on the North side. Complete disinterest and indifference from police. We now have the halogen sensor lights and stategically place barbed wire.

For anyone that thinks this is no big deal the anguish it causes is not pleasant to live with.

Was anyone injured? No.

Can any of the alleged offenders be identified (and not just because you think you know who did it)? No.

Is there any significant forensic evidence to be collected (they’re not going to pull fingerprints from a rock)? No.

Therefore no police will be attending. There’s nothing they can really do. Get the police incident number from the operator and contact your insurance company.

If you’re not happy with that, request to speak to the comms supervisor, go into a police station and speak to the station sgt directly, contact @CPOACT via twitter, contact canberra times, then post on Riot-act.

Have you tried contacting your local Neighbourhood Watch? Talk to your neighbours. If you don’t know them, then maybe it’s time you did. This should help you to find out if it is targeted at you, or you are one of many.

Neighbours who know each other do tend to watch out for each other, and a consolidated rational approach will no doubt work better than people working independently of each other. Together you can record dates, time and location of damage. Comparison of this data may assist you in identifying a pattern of behaviour which may subsequently assist your neighbourhood to catch the culprits in the act. Good luck.

Dreadful situation – do you have any idea what started it, or was it completely random?

You could install cameras that take flash pictures in response to movement (the same kind they use to photograph wildlife). Then insist that the police identify these mini-Mullys. Are they school age?

I’m not sure what the current Victims of Crime compensation laws cover, but it might be worth investigating whether there’s some form of compensation for your parents if they are suffering psychological problems as a result of this. (The perpetrators do NOT have to have been tried; it’s a “balance of probability” scenario).

Important not to be cowed and not to behave like prisoners. The fun will go out of terrorising you if you aren’t vulnerable. Install bright lights out the front, and sit on your front verandah and drink cocktails into the evenings. If you appear relaxed, you’ll soon feel more relaxed.

Absolute bummer for you and I hope it’s solved. Agree with the Rioter who suggested going to the tabloid media. And the “minister” “responsible”.

Another option I’ve read about may be a motion activate sprinkler. They’re more for cats and the like, but hack one to a higher volume sprinkler and if your handy, add something like detergent to an infuser along the hose… who ever does it will have to leave soaked.

kevswitchau said :

We have security lights, a game camera (which they manage to avoid) and various other security. I am annoyed at the police because their attirude is very casual, they refuse to send cars out when damage is reported, they promise increased patroles which never eventuate (they have a number of reports of incidents around the same time in the same few streets, yet they still wont increase patroles) and I have contacted local pollies who shrug their shoulders.

Experience of police in other states has been very different. They would certainly have never met a panicking elderly woman with the response ‘oh well, that’s just kids’. General attitudes (as evidenced by some responses) would seem to explain why this compacency exists. Educational. Thanks guys.

I ask again, what point is there is sending a car to a property damage incident when there is no evidence? What can they do in person that can’t be done over the phone? It may make you feel better, but is there any actual benefit?

Experience of police in other states has been very different.

So you’ve had the same kind of harrassment in other states?

they promise increased patroles which never eventuate

How do you know?

Once again, you haven’t really answered what exactly you’d like them to do. Instead of writing to ministers (a waste of time for the most part; you probably received a lame form letter?), write to the OIC of Tuggeranong Station for starters, detailing your gripes. If you are receiving inappropriate comments from an operator, make a complaint through the right channels. Have you spoken with your neighbours (assuming you’re not the only ones being targetted) about the situation?

Tooks said :

bigfeet said :

Just out of interest, how exactly do you expect the police to stop this?

What strategy do you suggest they employ?

Fair question. If you don’t have any idea who these people are, where they live etc, then what do you want?
…

There are many suggestions in these thread to get a CCTV or some other form of surveillance so that the offenders can be recorded and the police can progress with their investigations. The problem is that the people cannot afford that solution.

You are asking what I want the police to do, well how about for the police to provide the surveillance devices and set them up…?

Maybe it’s an opportunity for the police to start offering this as a service for the community, I’m sure there are many such petty crimes that dispatching a police patrol car is just not feasible.

Thoughts?

We have security lights, a game camera (which they manage to avoid) and various other security. I am annoyed at the police because their attirude is very casual, they refuse to send cars out when damage is reported, they promise increased patroles which never eventuate (they have a number of reports of incidents around the same time in the same few streets, yet they still wont increase patroles) and I have contacted local pollies who shrug their shoulders.

Experience of police in other states has been very different. They would certainly have never met a panicking elderly woman with the response ‘oh well, that’s just kids’. General attitudes (as evidenced by some responses) would seem to explain why this compacency exists. Educational. Thanks guys.

Clown Killer said :

Ohhh goody … Cue conga-line of spineless Internet hard-men queuing up to dissect the minutae of why you are so utterly to blame for your own predicament.

Looks like you’re the only hard man throwing out insults on this thread. Nice one.

My family had a similar problem on the opposite side of town for several years back while I was growing up. In this case however we were able to identify the perpetrators – the police still apparently couldn’t do anything.

It took about a year and a half of my parents repeatedly going to court for restraining orders against the lead perpetrator before his recalcitrant mother got sick of having to drag the little b*stard into town and actually started controlling him.

If you’re able to identify any of the perpetrators, AVO’s are probably your best (and only) option. Even if you get one prohibiting them from coming within 50m of your house, it’s unlikely they’d get done for breaching it even if you caught them red handed – BUT it does mean that there’s a much lower threshold of harassment to get the police involved and ‘investigating’, and between that and the court appearances over imposing AVO’s, their sh*t for brains parents will no doubt become annoyed that their offspring are cutting into time they could otherwise spend drinking, smoking and conceiving more delinquents.

bigfeet said :

Just out of interest, how exactly do you expect the police to stop this?

What strategy do you suggest they employ?

Fair question. If you don’t have any idea who these people are, where they live etc, then what do you want? How many police cars do you think patrol Tuggeranong at any one time? I think you’d be surprised (and probably shocked).

Have to say if it’s happening repeatedly, this sounds like targeted attacks rather than mere vandalism.
It might be an idea to letter drop and see if others in the suburb are having similar problems.

Other than that, 360 degrees of halogen sensor lighting is essential, if anyone comes close they;re lit up. You can get DIY solar ones now that charge by day and don’t need a sparky to install.
They will also aid any cameras install, which are dirt cheap these days.
One from the US with a vandal proof dome, HD sensor and web access is about $400, though others are out there for $100 all the way up to thousands if you want remote pan and tilt.

Dazz said :

While what is happening is not acceptable if the Police cannot identify the criminals how can they charge them or what address will they send the Summons too?

From what we’ve seen by previous police media reports is that thieves/muggers etc are pretty dumb and have this ability of loitering in the general vicinity of where the offence has taken place. Also, if they’re smashing up every house in the street, if you’re there quick enough you can follow the trail of damage to the perpetrators.

A broken arm would stop them throwing rocks, just sayin’.

Sensor lights and a few cameras would have cost a lot less than the thousands you claim to have shelled out (don’t they have insurance?)

You have not told us what exactly you expect the police to do. They can’t provide 24 hour security to one property – so what is it you want?

Don’t blame the police because what can they do? Sit outside your house 24 hours?

You can buy a good quality DVR cctv card to fit into your PC for under a hundred bucks on EBAY, and then you can buy some night vision cameras on ebay as well for cheap that give a good picture good enough to identify the crooks.. Make sure you hide the cameras (pretty easy cause they usually are small) Easy to set up as well, I now live in Isabella Plains, and heck – I’ll set it all up for you for a six pack because I hate felons.

Do you like backyard cricket? I love back yard cricket. It is such a fun and neighbourly activity. Of course being only spring and all and seing as how me mates and I are always busy, the only time we ever get to play it is late at night, kind of when it is dark. Mind you, back yard cricket is not exactly a safe sport. I mean with those bats, hard balls and occasional drunken players, spectators are likley to get severly injured, especially if they turn up unannounced in the middle of the night. Thankfuly the players wear padding and safety gear so they don’t get hurt.
Yes, a few good games of backyard criket with some of your good mates would build some community spirit I think. Mind you, if some vandals just happened to turn up, before, during or after the game you’d have to be careful not to accidentially bowl a few balls in their direction least some one try to take a swing at the ball at the moment it was impacting some one’s body. Which we all know drunken cricket players are inclined to do from time to time.
Yes, backyard cricket, lovely game that. I really think you should consider forming a team at your place.
Now, security systems, get on ebay and type “security camera system” Then get some of your cricket mates to install it for you.

Just out of interest, how exactly do you expect the police to stop this?

What strategy do you suggest they employ?

Sounds like you need to get some mates around for a very quiet camp out. Focus on the nights this stuff normally happens. Once you have caught one or two of them, you can decide whether to call the cops, call their parents, or take some other measure.

You may need to camp out a few times, but once you caught them and scared the living crap out of them, you may find the problems go away.

call a current affair/today tonight. they’ll set up the cameras for free and you can get your head on tv. it would help if you also dont get along with your neighbours and are willing to try a new crackpot weightloss program.

I can understand that your upset, but why take your anger out on the Police? You’ve already said that you can’t identify the people that committed the offence, so them turning up will achieve less then has already occurred. Yes people will see a Police car sitting in the drive way for 30 mins or so, but that is all that will come out of them attending.

This isn’t your fault, this isn’t your parents fault, this isn’t the fault of Police, it is the little scrotes that are out there doing this shit to your parents.

It is a pain that unless someone is identified Police can’t do anything, but you can’t really expect them to start knocking on everyone’s door in Canberra to find out who has been damaging the house, it seems that that is what you want, but it just wont happen.

Police also can’t be expected to permanently patrol that street, they can go there when they have time, but I’m guessing it happens on a Friday and Saturday night, when it is late, you know when Police are tied up with a lot of different situations mostly caused by clowns who can’t keep their hands to themselves.

Be angry, but direct your anger at the people who deserve it, the people who are committing the offences, not the people who can only do so much with no information.

Call canberra times. Make a story out of it. Then ask Cbr Times to interview CPO ACT for his view on it.
Fully appreciate they cant have someone waiting outside your house, but also appreciate that you cant be held ransom by a few youths. With school holidays, only expect it to increase. though this also presents greater opportunity for them being caught.

I second the surveillance camera idea.

Then do something about it, take a photo, get a witness. Hell grab one and stab them if it helps your case, but dont sit back and wait for others to get things done. Be proactive.

That really sux. It sounds like video surveillance may be your only choice now. But you might try talking to your local pollie to see whether they can apply some pressure to the cops to do their job.

While what is happening is not acceptable if the Police cannot identify the criminals how can they charge them or what address will they send the Summons too?

Besides a Police car sitting in your driveway 24hrs, you may have to invest in a surveillance system.

Looks like you’re the second in line Clown Killer

Ohhh goody … Cue conga-line of spineless Internet hard-men queuing up to dissect the minutae of why you are so utterly to blame for your own predicament.

You might like to Google “camera traps”. Get some high definition pictures and video of the animals. Make a web site. $300