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Queensland Police Contact by SMS
The Queensland Police Service is rolling out the
contacting of members of the public by SMS when
investigating reported incidents across the state.
The tool, which is available to officers from 15
August 2019, has been successfully trialled in Brisbane South,
Logan and Gladstone earlier in the year.
Currently, police are only able to contact people by telephone
or by attending the location where the person is. Police believe
this will improve two-way communication as many people don’t
Restricted Parking - Diamond Jubilee Way answer phone calls marked ‘private’ or ‘no caller-ID’.
To improve safety for motorists and pedestrians, Officers are now able to send an SMS message to a person from
parking will be formally restricted with the their QPS email account. The message recipient will be able to
installation of yellow no stopping lines and no reply directly to the officer by sending an SMS message back,
stopping signs along Diamond Jubilee Way for example by providing the requested details or making an
between Anzac Avenue and Memorial Drive in the vicinity of the appointment to meet.
sports fields. Senior Sergeant Andrew Lake said the trial will make it easier
Council considered that a narrow parking lane alongside a
designated arterial road with a 60km/h speed limit was not an
appropriate location for on-street parking, particularly where
young children may congregate around vehicles as families
access these sports fields.
and faster for the public and the QPS to engage and resolve
investigations. It will also improve the ability of victims to be
OLD PETRIE TOWN advised of the status of their matter.
To reduce the risk of scams, messages will include information
more than just a market to identify it as coming from the QPS, including the crime
report number. SMS messages will not include attachments or
hyperlinks.
“If you are involved in an incident which would have been
reported to the Queensland Police Service (including crime
traffic crashes and DV matters), you may receive an SMS message
from an investigator. If people are uncertain of the authenticity
of the message, contact Policelink on 131 444.
“Anyone who believes they may have been targeted by
scammers should report the matter through the Cyber reporting
tool,” Senior Sergeant Lake said.
The email-to-SMS trial evaluation indicated 88 per cent of the
community supported the QPS using SMS to contact them.
78 per cent of officers reported that SMS was very effective for
contacting the community.
