Bone idle police again

This story is from the Northern Territory but it reflects my own experience with the Queensland police. When I gave the police an ID card from one of the people who had stolen my car, they were not interested -- because the person concerned had no "record". One wonders how you get a "record" in that case. The police are mainly interested in very easy work -- such as lurking at the bottom of hills to catch unwary motorists who naturally speed up in such places. It takes publicity to get them off their fat behinds

A thief left a crucial piece of evidence - his mobile phone containing all his personal details - at the scene of an attempted burglary. But police are yet to interview the man, despite the owner of the business targeted passing on the phone and all of the offender's details more than a month ago. Text messages on the phone even indicated plans of a possible heist. One message was sent asking the recipient if they had any bolt cutters. Another gave the Darwin address as to where to pick him up from at 11pm.

QAL Transport owner-manager Ken Conlon said it was ridiculous the thief and his co-offenders were allowed to commit crimes and still walk the streets. He is now threatening his own vigilante justice. "It is just amazing - all the information is there in their (police) hands," he said. "I thought they would have got these bludgers by now and they haven't. "I have all their phone numbers, I know their addresses and I have his bank details. I even have a good description of the car they were in and the registration number. "How much more information do the police need?" Mr Conlan said police had told him that his case was not a priority as the alleged offenders had no prior offences.

When the Northern Territory News asked NT Police about the matter yesterday, police said they were investigating. "Evidence left at the scene has been examined by investigators and a number of persons of interest have been identified, which members of the Commander's Tactical Team are following up on," police said in a statement. "Investigators prioritise their investigations in order of severity or links with crime series."

The now phoneless thief and two co-offenders broke into the QAL Transport depot on Nebo Rd, Berrimah, about 1.30am on December 23. A truck driver for the company arrived at the headquarters to start his early morning shift and interrupted the trio as they scoured a courier van on the premises filled with alcohol and cigarettes. Mr Conlon said the would-be thieves quickly scampered off into the darkness, jumping through a hole they had cut in the back wire fence and fleeing in a car. He said the thieves had stacked up a pile of spirits and cigarettes but left empty handed, thanks to the truck driver arriving when he did. Mr Conlon said police had not even interviewed or taken a statement from his driver. "I don't want to criticise the cops as they have a tough job, but if I went and stole $20 from the post office down the road they would be arresting me straight away," he said.

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