Council and Mount Isa Police are working collaboratively with caravan park owners to help reduce incidences of crime and increase local awareness of crime-prevention practices.
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On Thursday, January 10, Mount Isa Police officers Acting Superintendent Andrew Gillies, Acting Inspector Neil King and Acting Senior Sergeant Adam King, met with Mayor Joyce McCulloch, Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mark Crawley and Director of Engineering Emilio Cianetti, and owners and managers of the Sunset Top Tourist Park, Mount Isa Holiday and Caravan Park, the Argylla Holiday and Caravan Park and the AAOK Moondarra Caravan Park, to discuss ways to improve the businesses’ security and crime-prevention practices.
The park owners were advised that, on top of always reporting a crime to Police, they should also be aware of the concept of “crime prevention through environmental design” – such as installing security cameras and motion-activated floodlights, cutting down or trimming trees and hedges, and identifying existing hotspots on their properties that may need to be focused on, to prevent the likelihood of a crime being committed.
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“It’s important to understand that, no matter how minute the crime, it should always be reported to Police,” Acting Inspector King said.
The Police officers also emphasised the importance of stressing to park visitors and residents the need to “lock it or lose it”.
Sunset Top Tourist Park owner Peter Miller was one of the meeting’s attendees and said he appreciated the offer by Mount Isa Police to visit his property and help him improve security practices, and was buoyed by the suggestions and ideas put forward by Acting Superintendent Gillies.
Cr McCulloch said Thursday morning’s meeting was informative and productive and that she hoped the parks’ owners took a lot away from it.
“It is so important for us all to work collaboratively together to address such a significant issue,” Cr McCulloch said.
“I thank the park owners for bringing this issue to my attention and calling for the meeting, and I’m confident that some real change and action will come as a result of it.”
Police are also reminding locals that the 000 emergency number should be called when a crime is in the process of being committed, while the Policelink number – 131 444 – should be used to report a crime after it’s occurred.