A Great Crime Prevention Week

Crime Prevention Week was held during 6-10 October 2002, and the theme was “Safety through Crime Prevention”. Police regions and districts organised local activities to highlight the daily themes.

EACH DAY of the week consisted of a different theme. Sunday was the Official Launch, Monday “Community Partnerships” Tuesday “Property Safety”, Wednesday “Traffic”, Thursday “Personal Safety” and Friday was all about “Youth”.

The week was launched at the Police Citizens Youth Club, Wynnum, highlighting the success of the Wynnum Graffiti Taskforce Project, an initiative which emphasises the success of police working in partnership with the community to prevent graffiti crime. Specific events included:

An inner city area was identified where partnerships could be formed between the community and government departments. Graffiti was evident on walls, a garage was being used by trespassers for unlawful activities and private property was being used by pedestrians as short cuts to other streets. As a part of the Community Safety Program, two streets were cleaned of graffiti, the garage sealed and a padlocked gate installed. No graffiti has been detected on any wall in the streets since that day.

The Property Safety Program saw a Brisbane resident agreeing to have a radio station conduct a walk-through of their home to identify security upgrades. The resident had retained the original security so as comparisons could be made with upgrades. Radio interviews were conducted in relation to road rage and other traffic related matters.

Two personal safety awareness sessions were conducted at Police Headquarters, attended by QPS employees, NHW members, employees from other government departments and the community.

Students, a teacher, respective School-based Police Officers and representatives from ‘Open Doors’ were invited to participate in a Youth Forum at Police Headquarters. Topics discussed were
Bullying and Harassment, Personal Safety on Transport and Stealing at School.

On each day, knowledgeable observers in each of these topics were available to offer advice when required. Each group delivered a five-minute presentation to the Police Minister, Deputy Commissioner Conder and the forum attendees. We were very fortunate to have Grant Hackett attend and spend a short time with each group.

Of course, the highlight and concluding event of Crime Prevention Week was the Neighbourhood Watch Conference held in Logan City.