Safer Together Cairns

Being safer together in Cairns

Safer Together Cairns is a Queensland Police Service community safety initiative designed to reduce community fear of crime and increase feelings of safety among residents.

Safer Together Cairns activities and resources were co-designed with local residents and key stakeholders to ensure they directly respond to community need. With a focus on personal and property safety the initiative aims to empower residents to actively participate in safeguarding their neighbourhoods, including opportunities to:

• Connect with the QPS and access news about Cairns.
• Utilise crime prevention support and resources in Cairns.
• Participate in crime prevention and community safety activities.
• Access crime data about Cairns.
• Report something to the relevant channel.

The Safer Together pilot initiative kicks off in Cairns throughout July and August 2024, and includes a community safety awareness campaign, enhanced crime prevention resources, community engagement opportunities and the delivery of a Community Safety Champions pilot program to leverage the strength of existing community relationships and networks.

By working together we can build a safer and more resilient Cairns.

Safer Together Cairns resources:
 

Safer Together Cairns

Key activities implemented as part of the Safer Together Cairns initiative include:

Community safety awareness campaign:

A social media campaign to raise awareness of effective ways to reduce home and vehicle theft. This includes insights into how opportunistic thieves operate and some everyday ways people can help protect their property and stay safer together.

Enhanced access to crime prevention resources:

Residents will have enhanced access to valuable crime prevention resources with a focus on personal safety and support for victims of property crime, including multilingual flyers to represent Cairns' diverse community.

For your convenience, we have also compiled a downloadable zip file containing a range of Safer Together Cairns digital resources for you to use and share.

Download Resources (ZIP)

Community engagement activities:

District Crime Prevention Co-ordinators (DCPCs), Police Liaison Officers (PLO's) and other local officers will deliver a range of of crime prevention and community safety presentations and pop-up activities.

Community Safety Champions program:

This pilot program is intended to build the capacity of local organisations and their members by empowering them with the knowledge and tools to help raise awareness and engage community in conversations around crime and community safety.

Q: What can I do to enhance my safety?

A: We all have the right to feel and be safe. Adopting practical safety strategies can help maximise your safety and assist you to respond effectively if your safety is threatened. To help you feel and be safe, the QPS provides guidance, advice, and educational resources, including:

Crime prevention and community safety information sheets:

• You can view and download a range of crime prevention information sheets in multiple languages.

Quick links to QPS crime prevention and community safety web pages:

• You can view crime prevention information for the following topics Home Security  |  Property Security  |  Vehicle Security  |  Adult Safety  |  Seniors Safety  |  Young People's Safety  |  Business Security  |  Victims of Crime

The QPS Stolen Vehicle Portal:

• You can visit and search the QPS stolen vehicle portal to look for stolen vehicles. It is an opportunity to assist QPS to identify stolen vehicles.

The CCTV Community Camera Alliance:

• You can join the CCTV Community Camera Alliance to register your closed circuit television (CCTV) system with the QPS. This initiative is an opportunity for you to assist the QPS via the registration of your CCTV systems to prevent crime and make the community safer.

Request a Mobile Police Beat in your area:

• Cairns residents can now request a Mobile Police Beat be deployed to your local area as part of a new ‘Bring the Beat’ police engagement program, providing greater access and support from policing resources as well as a high-visibility presence in hotspots.

Connect and get involved with Neighbourhood Watch Cairns:

• You can visit the Neighbourhood Watch Cairns website for local crime prevention information and memberships.
• You can follow the Neighbourhood Watch Cairns Facebook page.

Volunteer with Crime Stoppers Cairns:

• You can visit the Crime Stoppers Cairns contact page for more information or email cairns@csql.com.au

Q: How do I connect with the QPS and get updates about Cairns?

A: There are several ways to connect and receive QPS updates, and crime prevention and community safety information about Cains, including:

Social media:

• You can follow the myPolice Greater Cairns Facebook page.

myPolice website and emails:

• You can view the myPolice Far North news website, and subscribe to receive myPolice email updates about Cairns.

• You can also view the myPolice Queensland website, and subscribe to receive myPolice email updates about Queensland.

Contact your Cairns District Crime Prevention Co-ordinator (DCPC):

• You can contact a DCPC in Cairns by emailing DCPCCairns@police.qld.gov.au.

Provide feedback to QPS:

• You can contact QPS and submit feedback, a complaint or a compliment here.

Deaf, hearing impaired or vulnerable persons:

• The Queensland Police Service has a messaging service which allows deaf, hearing-impaired and vulnerable persons in Queensland to contact Police for non-urgent matters. You can learn more and register here.

Request contact from QPS:

• You can request a non-urgent contact from QPS, including for an update or copy of a police report.

Q: Where can I access QPS crime prevention support in Cairns?

A: There are several opportunities to access QPS crime prevention and community safety support in Cairns, including:

Connecting with your District Crime Prevention Co-ordinator (DCPC):

DCPC's can be contacted to help provide crime prevention and community safety support such as:

• Arranging an in-home security assessment.
• Requesting a crime prevention and community safety workshop.
• Requesting a school presentation.
• Liaising with community groups and participating in community-based activities.
• Advice on property identification.
• Participating in crime prevention initiatives and events.

Connecting with your Police Liaison Officer (PLO):

Police Liaison Officers (PLOs) are employed by the QPS to establish and maintain a positive rapport between culturally specific communities and the QPS. The role of PLOs is to promote trust and understanding by assisting the community and police to:

• Reduce the risk of crime.
• Divert people from the criminal justice system.
• Advise and educate police officers on culture and cultural issues.
• Improve community knowledge of law and order issues and policing services.

Connecting with your School Based Police Officer:

The overall purpose of the Policing in Schools capability is to support primary and secondary school aged youth within the school environment to reduce harm, offending behaviours and/or are at risk of educational disengagement. This is achieved through engagement activities, program delivery and referrals, including –

• School Based Police Officers.
• School Support Officers.
• Adopt-a-Cop opportunities.

Access early intervention and family support:

• Get involved or attend PCYC Cairns who specialise in youth programs and currently run Youth Support Services, Get Set for Work, Drop Ins, Learner Licence Workshops and Braking the Cycle. PCYC Queensland is a charity providing youth and community programs, services, and facilities, including outside school hours care, gym, and fitness for everyone. Working alongside the QPS to meet community needs across Queensland, together we are building safer, healthier communities through youth development.
• Refer a young person to Project Booyah in Cairns. Project Booyah is a Queensland Police, Youth Mentoring Program that utilises adventure-based learning, leadership skills, decision making/problem solving exercises, resilience training, policing strategies, and family inclusive principles to help young people aged 14-17 years make better life choices!

Q: Where can I access support for a victim of crime?

• If you are a victim of crime, have witnessed a crime, or know a victim of crime, you can visit this page to access victim support.
• If you are a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence you can visit this page about where to access victim support.

Q: Where can I access support from other organisations?

A: Police officers use every engagement with community members to identify support needs and offer referrals to external service providers. Referrals can be made for a broad range of social and lifestyle issues, including those that can increase the likelihood of either becoming a victim of crime or perpetrating crime.

Police officers can connect people with relevant support services under a broad range of categories:

• Community support
• Domestic and family violence

• Family and youth support

• Health and wellbeing

• Homelessness

• Identity theft and fraud

• Legal
• Mental health
• Seniors
• Victim support

For your convenience, we have also compiled a list of other organisations that provide various types of support and information.

Community Support Organisations

Q: Where can I view crime data?

A: There are several places to access data about crime across Cairns and Queensland, including:

The Queensland Police Service Online Crime Map:

• You can visit the QPS Online Crime Map and view criminal offences in your area during a particular time period.

myPolice Crime Statistics for Queensland and Cairns:

• You can view crime statistics for Queensland and Cairns and filter QPS crime data in a chart format to view what has been reported in your area during a particular time period.

Trends, reports, and annual statistics:

• You can view other sources of QPS and Qld Government statistics, such as reported crime trend, offender and victim data.

Q: When and where do I report something?

The following information is intended to help you identify the official channels to report a crime or safety concern.

When should you call Triple Zero (000)?

• If a crime is happening now, call Triple Zero (000), or
• If your life or property is in immediate danger, or
• If the event is time-critical, for example a fire.

When should you contact Policelink?

• If a crime is not happening now, is not life-threatening or there is no likelihood of the suspected offenders still being in the area – report online to Policelink.
• If you cannot find a relevant form online, and it is a police matter, please call Policelink on 131 444.

Policelink is available 24/7 and provides Queenslanders with an additional method to report a range of matters or seek policing advice.

Online reporting includes, but is not limited to; lost property, non-injury traffic crash, updating reports, party safe registration, etc.

You can read more about Policelink non-urgent reporting and enquiries.

When should you report something to Crime Stoppers?

• If you want to share what you know, not who you are, you can share information anonymously with Crime Stoppers.

Crime Stoppers Queensland is a registered charity and volunteer community organisation who work closely with police, media, and the community. Crime Stoppers exists to help solve, reduce, and prevent crime by collecting information and passing on those details to police and other law enforcement agencies to help keep communities and families safe.