A frustrated local woman is considering setting up closed Facebook pages for individual Tamworth neighbourhoods in a bid to help police tackle escalating local crime.
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Since then, and despite having to remove the original Facebook post for that very reason, Ms Kwast has been meeting with local police, writing to politicians and constructing a novel idea that she hopes can help clean up Tamworth neighbourhoods.
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"There hasn't been an active Neighbourhood Watch in Tamworth for many years, and after speaking to (Oxley PD Crime Prevention Officer) Jennifer Ridley we thought closed Facebook pages might be the best place to start," Ms Kwast said.
"The private pages would be for neighbours only, and that way social media can be used in a positive way to alert neighbours to anything going on, without spreading it around for everyone to see."
One of the major issues cited by both Ms Kwast and the local police in regards to current public social media pages is the community posting about crimes either before, or rather than, calling the police.
"More education might be needed, as pasting something all over Facebook can impact on the authorities' ability to press charges and get convictions," Ms Kwast said.
"This wouldn't be such an issue on smaller private pages - people seem inclined to use social media, so let's use it in a positive community minded approach.
"Everyone is happy to whinge, and rant, and make threats on Facebook about crime and theft, but they don't seem happy to do anything about it."
