Detective Superintendent, Peter Lennon from NSW Police Force, Fairfield City Police Area Command speaks to SBS Kurdish about the safety measures the public should take during the festive season.
Christmas and the New Year is a special end of the year holidays for Australians. It is a time where long holidays are taken.
During this time it is very important to be patient on the road, there are more cars on the road at this time of the year. People are heading to destinations to visit family and friends.
“It’s very important to be patient on the roads. Every one’s in a hurry to their relatives’ places or to some destination. We’ve all got to be very patient on the road, there are lots more cars on the road heading up and down the highway right across Australia with people traveling on their holidays, so we all need to be a little patient with each other.” Mr Lennon said.
The use of mobile phones whilst driving is against the law yet unfortunately some drivers tend to use mobile phones whilst driving. The use of mobile phones whilst driving causes distractions hence accidents happen.
Research shows that being distracted when driving, such as by a mobile phone, increases the risk of a crash. Simply taking your eyes off the road for longer than two seconds, doubles the risk of a crash.
“We’ve done some tests and this is across Australia and unfortunately people that have been killed driving their cars their mobile phones are active. We can prove it that they were using their mobile phones at the time of the accident and it distracts you, everybody knows it distracts you.” Commander Peter Lennon from Fairfield City Police Area Command said.
It is unfortunate that the number of domestic violence increases during the festive season due to financial hardship and sometimes alcohol has an impact as well.
“Christmas brings the best of people but I think also it brings the worst of people. If there is tension within the family and the family come together for good reason but something happens, alcohol is a fact of what we usually see across Australia, arguments start up and before you know it fists are thrown, even more seriously weapons are used in large fights. Once again the same message is being used, let’s be patient with each other and if you’re with family and friends and arguments start up just walk away and don’t get involved.” Mr Lennon said to SBS Kurdish.
Christmas and New Year’s holiday is a peak time for property offences, including home burglaries and break-ins. To avoid break-ins it is suggested that you ensure the house is securely locked, including windows usually left open. Cancel newspapers and redirect your mail or have it collected by a friend. Tell neighbours or friends who can check on the house.
“All police stations across Australia have got methods by way they can patrol near your home. If you are going away you can ask the police to patrol near your home if they got time amongst other work they do they can do those patrols. But if you put sensor lights, timer on your TV, don’t let your newspapers bank-up and your letter box filled up and ask your neighbours to lookout for the house.” Mr Lennon said.
The weather has been quite warm for the past few days and the heatwave will continue for another few days, it is important that the public takes care while at the beach or at the pools to prevent accidents or drownings. And while at the beach it is important to swim between the flags.
“It is very important to keep safe; unfortunately we see on the news and hear about it in the media about people drowning. We need to be swimming between the flags at the beaches, we need to look out for troubled spots at the beaches and don’t go too far if you can’t swim and in swimming pools we need to be aware of our children.” Mr Lennon tells SBS Kurdish.
“Police across Australia are available 24 hours a day - some newly arrived people think we charge a fee - this is totally incorrect - we are a public service. We want to get information from people to keep our country safe; to be anonymous is absolutely ok- we would prefer to stop a crime from happening with information of suspicious behaviour than have to investigate a crime, that could have been avoided with public information. All crimes have impacts on victims, families, offenders - so if we can stop a crime before it occurs, that is our aim.” Commander Peter Lennon said.
Peter Lennon told SBS Kurdish for urgent matters, all Australian police forces and emergency services use 000. Police Commands share information - so if you have information that relates to something in another state, you can tell the police anywhere in Australia and they will dispatch the information as a conduit to the relevant Local Command across the country. Fairfield City Police Area Command phone number for assistance is 02 97288399 - contact them and they will pass the information on; plus all Police Stations across the country are on Facebook, so they can be followed or communicated with, through that mode if people prefer - and again you can be confidential.
For more information visit Fairfield City Police Area Command Facebook page.
