Targets join online battle

Social media runs hot with updates

A CAIRNS car theft epidemic showing no signs of slowing is driving collaboration of fedup social media users, now reporting stolen car sightings at an unprecedented rate.

According to police reporting between Thursday and Monday 28 cars were stolen throughout the Cairns area to bring the October running total to 76.

So far this month 1079 cars have been stolen.

Moderator of the Cairns and Townsville Stolen Cars and Sightings page Sam Testa can’t help but notice the uptick in reporting of vehicles suspected of being stolen from Cairns properties.

Mr Testa keeps an eye on social media pages, posts information about stolen cars and updates the community about where vehicles have been sighted and where they get dumped. “I can’t keep up,” he said. “I think I posted eight stolen cars (on Sunday) for Cairns alone. At least four other cars did not make the page over the weekend because they were dumped quickly in the Cairns area.”

Mr Testa was not convinced about the effectiveness of live social media reporting in putting pressure on crims to dump cars earlier than usual.

“While people are aware, the problem is the police being completely overwhelmed. This stems from the continuation of the softly, softly approach,” he said.

Asked about the use of GPS trackers, the anti-car theft advocate said police advice on the devices was to not pursue cars after they had been stolen. In September, following a weekend of mayhem Cairns police strongly discouraged vigilantism and stated rogue groups attacking alleged teen car thieves could expect to be charged.

Mr Testa said when cops knew stolen vehicles had tracking technology fitted there was no guarantee officers would expedite the return of the car, due to staff being unavailable to track every stolen car.

The advocate’s comments come as Police Minister Mark Ryan announced on Monday recruit entry tests would be free, in an effort to boost officer numbers.

That said, Mr Testa was a strong advocate for communities being informed about what was happening in their neighbourhoods and knowing when to take extra precautions if stolen cars had been reported in the area.

In the past month police have reported 128 unlawful motor vehicle use offences and 430 unlawful entry charges laid within the Cairns LGA. Police have been contacted for comment.