Deb Hann
I hope the school holidays are going well.
To start off today, a topic that is coming to our attention on a regular basis is the presence of homeless and transient people sleeping in vehicles around town. We appreciate the concern that people have and I would encourage people to contact support agencies from a welfare point of view. Some people choose to live an itinerant lifestyle and may be passing through town, while others find themselves homeless for a variety of reasons and can benefit from food support, advocacy with financial agencies or other advice. They will often park up in quiet locations for a place of safety.
Photo: Mahdi Bafande, pexels.com
Our community may contact Cambridge Community House on 07 827 5402 in the first instance if they believe someone in this situation is in need of support.
Deb Hann
You will have seen in the media that there has been a heightened focus on Boy racer intervention by police. I have mentioned before the importance of reporting events when they are occurring. Beyond that however, community intelligence is equally useful and important when it comes to background information. Many of us know of people in our immediate networks, or families, who have knowledge of or are involved in this activity. You may have seen spare sets of tyres stacked around, car jacks, rubber on wheel arches and other telltale signs of that.
As we have all seen, there can be more harm caused than just to the road, with spectators having been hit by out of control vehicles at large boy racer meets. If you have a teen or young adult driver, think about the car that you buy them or support them to buy. Young drivers commonly lack the experience to handle powerful rear wheel drive vehicles, so by helping us to hold drivers to account, you are preventing potential harm. Spectators also have a role in encouraging and perpetuating this behaviour. The larger the audience, the bigger the show. Your teen may not be driving the car, but as a passenger or spectator, they are nevertheless contributing to the problem. Report to 111 if you see or hear burnouts in progress.
The more calls we get, the more information that is collected and the greater chance we have of finding the cars involved at the time. To report community intelligence about those involved in boyracing anonymously, you can phone Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Boy racers
