Rally for a cause

It’s heartening the Cairns community can come together to support a victim of crime.

Each and every day social media pages are inundated with reports of the latest acts of assault, theft, and vandalism from victims and witnesses of crime across the Far North.

Youth crime is out of control and only adding to the number of criminal acts from adults that stretch across Cairns and the Far North.

In the face of such a frustrating and seemingly endless stream of victims the community is still finding ways to support each other in an attempt to push back against the fear and violence.

Neighbours are looking out for neighbours by reporting suspicious behaviour from people stalking suburban streets at night and drivers are constantly posting updates on locations of vehicles reported stolen or seen driving dangerously putting people’s lives at risk.

This community activism in the form of information sharing can go a long way to people keeping their homes secure or locating and retrieving lost goods or a vehicle that they need to be able go to work or pick up their kids.

In the early hours of Thursday morning yet another person minding their own business and was reportedly assaulted by a young boy who stole the disabled man’s bike and bag and left him requiring hospital treatment for facial injuries.

Unfortunately this kind of assault is far too common with kids, the elderly and women targeted without remorse by thugs willing to cause injury.

While the man’s injuries and trauma will take time to heal, the community spirit and care was on show once again in the form of a donation of a bike to replace the one stolen, a small gesture from the member of the community who saw a post about the incident on social media.

While the community can come together to support each other in the face of a problem without a clear solution, this support cannot fix the issue at hand and as frustrations grow the community will become more desperate.

This will require long term solutions and societal change, but until then the community must stay steadfast together and look out for one another.