Where are the police when you need them?

by Senior Constable Mike Brantz

Have you ever had that thought as some reckless driver with a death wish tailgates you before overtaking on double white lines?

Last month a Sunshine Coast woman had this exact experience as she drove towards Rainbow Beach – but it’s what she did next that’s important…

As she drove into town she noticed the offending vehicle parked at the permit office and discretely took down its registration number. Then she came to the police beat, which she found unattended.

Now a lot of people would have stopped there and later complained that the local police are never around – but not this lady. Deciding that this incident was worthy of police attention, she got out of her car, picked up the ‘blue phone’ (conveniently located next to the front door of the Police Beat) and started making a report to the Policelink operator.

As she was making her report, Leroy and I drove past and saw her standing there. We pulled up, grabbed some brief details from her and went hunting. It took less than five minutes to find this bloke, who had a full can of Bundy and cola sitting in a drink holder next to the steering wheel of his car, and a second, empty can in the driver’s door.

Not surprisingly the provisional licensed driver returned a breath test above the zero alcohol limit and we took him back to the police beat – where we found the informant still on the blue phone finishing her report.

She had now spent about 30 minutes of her weekend reporting this matter, but her time and effort will take another dangerous driver off the road for a few months.

Now I admit that this is an ideal scenario and the police won’t always be available to investigate your complaint right away, but you never know – this lady didn’t.

As police we need your help to prosecute dangerous drivers and get them off our roads. We’re the first to admit that we can’t do it alone – in fact the word ‘collaboration’ is used in the Queensland Police Service Strategic Plan 2017-2021.

Road users who have dash cams are in a prime position to help. If you capture evidence of reckless driver behaviour on your dash cam you can submit the footage online via the Queensland Police Service Hoon on-line form at www.police.qld.gov.au/apps/reports/hoonOnline, or drop it into us here at the beat.

All successful prosecutions depend on quality evidence, and video footage is up there with the best around.