New app to bust rural crime

POLICE have launched a new app to help in the reporting of crime in the bush.

The app launched today is the result of the Stock and Rural Crime Investigation Squad (SARCIS) and Policelink working together to develop a specific crime reporting function allowing farmers in the pastoral and agricultural industries to instantly report crime.

Assistant Commissioner Gayle Hogan of the State Crime Command said the custom designed function enabled users to instantly upload images and make a report without waiting until they were back home or in the office.

"Most users of this function would be out on a property when they see a crime such as trespassers or property damage," she said.

"Instead of waiting to get back to the office or home to report the crime they can do it straight away via the Policelink app or have the report saved to send when they next have phone coverage."

In 2013 SARCIS implemented Project Gatekeeper to encourage rural communities to shut the gate on rural crime.

"One initiative of the project was to remove barriers for rural and remote residents to report suspicious activity and crime generally," Assistant Commissioner Hogan said.

During 2014 SARCIS worked closely with Associate Professor Elaine Barclay of the University of New England who identified an under reporting of stock and rural crime.

The survey found over half of the reported crimes were trespassing for illegal hunting or fishing yet only half of those offences were reported to police.

"We hope this new function will contribute to addressing the issue and believe the increased reporting will assist in reducing stock and rural crime generally in the long run," Assistant Commissioner Hogan said.

2014 Queensland Rural Ambassador Sarah Hannah said she hoped rural communities would embrace the use of the device like they are embracing other new innovations in their industries.

"I hope rural residents get on board and use this app which can help lead us to safer rural communities across the state," Ms Hannah said.

Since the upgrade to the Policelink app in December 2014, the SARCIS functionality has been accessed 379 times.

The Policelink App is available to download for free from the App Store for Apple devices, Google Play for Android devices and Windows Store for Windows Phone.