Can you help?
We are all called upon to help in the fight against crime, with crime stoppers, with Neighbourhood Watch and with hot lines to call if we see thieves at work.
Police in Western Australia were so hot on the trail of criminal activities last year, that they charged an Aboriginal boy with receiving a stolen Freddo Frog.
So what if we become aware of a multi-million dollar crime spree happening in every city, town and suburb across the nation? Should we call triple 0, visit a police station and fill out a crime report, or make a citizens arrest?
If the long arm of the law in Australia is so strident in pursuing children receiving a tiny stolen chocolate bar, why is there such a high level of blindness to the stealing of shopping trolleys, frequently dumped on roads, footpaths and nature strips. The stolen trolleys are often seen dumped in drains, creeks and bays, vandalized or at times adopted by the homeless to transport their worldly treasures.
If anyone touches a stolen shopping trolley to remove it from their driveway, or children are found playing with one, could they be charged with handling stolen property?
Shopping trolleys are provided by supermarkets as a convenience for shoppers, to take their purchases to the car park, where they are then neatly placed in bays. When the shopper has no car and may be short of cash for a taxi, then crime may ensue and frequently does, when trolleys are removed from the property.
This crime has become so wide-spread, it appears to have become entrenched in our culture, so that it no longer seems to be a crime, which may explain police blindness to this multi-million dollar crime spree.
So who pays the price for this crime?
When the Brisbane City Council had possession of over five thousand stolen shopping trolleys that the supermarkets refused to pay to retrieve, they were sold for scrap metal. That would be good trade for the trolley making company, receiving orders for over 5000 more trolleys.
But who pays?
Companies have been established to collect stolen shopping trolleys and selected spotters who report their location receive a $1000 reward.
It may not be known how many shopping trolleys are stolen on any day, or in any year, but when it comes to paying the price for this crime spree, the bill is passed onto the shopper, making supermarket prices that much higher.
As long as a blind eye is turned to this crime by the police and the supermarkets do not act to alert shoppers to the seriousness of this crime spree, a very bad moral message is being sent out to the youth of Australia, about the value of property and what is actually a crime.
When youths vandalize shopping trolleys by throwing them off high-rise car parks and into waterways, is this simply a consequence of this crime having become normalized, accepted, expected and part of the landscape?
If we want to set an example to our youth of acceptable social and moral behaviour, then we need to address this crime spree and demand action by politicians, the Police, community organizations and the supermarkets.
Should large signs be displayed at supermarket entrances spelling out the consequences of stealing shopping trolleys?
Should signs be installed in every trolley alerting shoppers to the price that they will pay for this crime?
Should the Police be called to chase down offenders seen heading along streets with trolleys and those arrested brought before the courts?
Until we get serious about shopping trolley theft, the consumer will continue to pay the price for this multi-million dollar national crime spree and the morality of our nation will be damaged by being blind to this criminal activity and the vandalism that frequently follows.
We may need a strong wind of honesty to clean up what is the most expensive form of litter trashing our urban landscapes.
With the whole society blind to shopping trolley theft as a crime, how can we hope to sound convincing when we tell our children that receiving a stolen Freddo Frog is a criminal act, or vandalism is anti-social behaviour.
The Police in Queensland have just gained the power to issue on-the-spot fines for public nuisance offences, including disorderly behaviour and urination in public. Will this power be used to crack down on the great shopping trolley crime spree plaguing the nation?
Proposed Forum
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Island Earth will organize a forum on the great shopping trolley crime spree in the near future and would like to hear from people across the nation about their observations, experiences and what they think should be done. If we let this matter slide along year after endless year, shopping trolleys will continue to fall onto our streets and suburbs and into our creeks and bays, like autumn leaves from the giant supermarket trees.
Kim Peart
Director
island Earth
PO Box 1848
Sunshine Plaza 4558 Qld
