After an incident last week involving a prowler in Joseph St, Gore, and reports of break-ins, social media was ablaze with comments and discussion regarding a perceived rise in crime.
Neighbourhood Support local area co-ordinator Karen Bellew said her organisation was well aware of the posts and comments.
"Neighbourhood Support — we are partly funded by police, so we have a nationwide connection with them in our respective communities.
"We have been talking about the recent activity on social media, about the seeming spate of things going on," she said.
Mrs Bellew said last month, Neighbourhood Support and the police held a meeting with concerned residents.
"The aim of the meeting was to reassure people we have great ways to teach them to be safe in their homes and vehicles."
Mrs Bellew said there was a lot to take away from the meeting — but there was one big call to action.
"The biggest urge from both police and us was to get people to call 111 or 105.
"There had only been one report."
Calling police was key, Mrs Bellew said. If crime was increasing, reports to police helped them make informed decisions.
"The other thing I can reassure people is we get a police report each week and there has been no spike in reported incidents since September.
Police could not build up a picture of what was happening unless people logged crime reports with them, rather than just posting on social media.
Mrs Bellew had a simple example for people who were not sure if they should call the emergency 111 number or the non-emergency 105.
"If someone is smashing my mailbox, that’s happening right now, I would call 111.
"If I come home and I find someone has wrecked my mailbox, that’s when I would call 105, which can be done by phone or online," she said.
There has been online chatter about a patrol group starting up; however, Mrs Bellew said one was already in place and was seeking more members.
"We also had two members of the Community Patrol who were encouraging people to contact them if they were interested in being a part of their organisation.
"It’s a very structured nationwide organisation doing community patrol, rather than a "vigilante, let’s get out and start some patrols", which was discussed on social media," she said.
Gore was still a safe town but incidents could happen and organisations like Neighbourhood Support could help people mitigate harm in their community.
"We absolutely don’t want to be scaring people, but the reality is that these things do happen from time to time and the best thing people can do is be prepared.
"We’re hugely about building communities, having good neighbours and being able to support that.
"All our tools are about empowering people to do those things."
She understood the concerns about crime, but such concerns needed to be directed towards appropriate channels.
"The police are very proactive and are there 24 hours a day to be contacted. They want to hear.
"That’s their job.
"They want to be out there making people feel safe."
Neighbourhood Support is a free to join organisation with plenty of resources available. It has ties to with many groups such as police and other emergency services.
Mrs Bellew said Neighbourhood Support was always there to support people looking to have a bit more peace of mind.
"Join Neighbourhood Support, get together a community network, and you can contact people in a more structured way."
