Police seek public help in identifying graffiti vandals

By Alistair Gray 

Local Facebook pages are running hot with angry residents who, to put it bluntly, are ‘pissed off’ with the senseless damage caused by some local low life who has been running rampant with a spray can ‘tagging’ and adding ‘graffiti signatures’ to any wall they can find.   

There is damage on the soccer and rugby league club buildings in First Avenue, the front of Bribie Bowls Club, Aldi's main building and walls surrounding the Aldi car park that back onto the Golden Gallery Chinese Restaurant, the big blue wall next to McDonald's restaurant, numerous public buildings, conveniences, rubbish containers and the like. They have even resorted to defacing some of the historic place's signage put up after years of work by the Bribie Island Historical Society.  

It is easy to see why residents are upset as we all love our Island and take great pride in keeping Bribie in pristine condition for the enjoyment of locals and visitors. With many Bribie residents being ‘old school’, brought up with strict discipline and great pride in their country and themselves, with respect for the law and the values of our community, they are rightly very affronted by these senseless acts of vandalism. Some even drawn to tears.   

Thanks to the team's fast response at the City of Moreton Bay, much of the damage to public buildings around the Bongaree waterfront has been cleaned up. However, more work is needed to remove the graffiti around many of the business premises. The City of Moreton Bay only has two trucks equipped to remove graffiti across the council area. As you can imagine, these trucks are in high demand. I have decided not to display images of the damage as I don't want to encourage further vandalism. 

I spoke to Acting Sergeant, Senior Constable Phil Wallace from the Bribie Police Station, who has lived on Bribie for 15 years, who said, like the public, many of the station's officers also live on the Island and feel much the same way as members of the public about the damage.  To date, they have been unable to identify the culprits, and the ‘tags’ are not listed in the Queensland Police Graffiti database. They have received six graffiti complaints and the damage is believed to have been committed at night. The policing team would appreciate the public's help with any information that could help identify the offenders.  They have a team of 23 at the station who provide coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the front office reception area open between 8am - 4pm each day.  He stressed there had been no lack of effort on their part in supporting the community despite the high workloads and challenges with staffing levels. When the front reception area is closed, Bribie still receives full coverage with police car patrols and calls managed through Policelink. I think we can all agree that despite the odd challenges and some petty crimes, Bribie remains a safe place to live—much thanks to the hard work of our local policing team. 

If you have any information that can assist the Bribie police with the graffiti issue or any other criminal activity: 

• In an emergency and an immediate police response is required, call 000. 

• To provide information and calls requiring non-urgent action, call Policelink 131 444.  

Non-urgent calls made via Policelink have a job created in the police system.  Then, a message is sent to officers' iPads and nearby patrol cars can respond as appropriate. Please note, if you have any information regarding a crime or criminal activity, please report the information to the police as a priority and leave posting on Facebook or telling friends or neighbours until later. Police don't actively monitor Facebook.