By Luke Voogt
A Bell Post Hill dad is leading a group of fed-up residents in a bid to battle crime in Geelong’s northern suburbs.
Nick Cross, 29, has co-ordinated overnight car patrols for the past two months, catching out burglars and car thieves plaguing the area.
“The police aren’t patrolling anywhere so we just do it ourselves,” he said.
“They just don’t have the numbers.”
The father-of-three said he had spotted would-be-offenders loitering in driveways or tampering with cars on the patrols.
“We light them up with a torch and most run.”
Mr Cross also coordinates a Facebook page where residents share CCTV, dash-cam and mobile footage and other information.
“If they need any help they can let the rest of us know.”
Mr Cross denied allegations among “haters“ on social media that his group members were vigilantes.
“We’re not running through the street with pitchforks and torches. We’re just parents who want a safe environment.”
Mr Cross said he was motivated to fight crime after his children became “scared in their own home”.
“The one thing that keeps them at peace is that dad’s doing stuff to make things okay.”
Mr Cross said he had made a citizen’s arrest after receiving a tip-off on the Facebook page.
Mr Cross and others chased a 14-year-old who had just burgled a nearby house, finding him hiding in a bush.
They took him to Mr Cross’s garage where they waited for police, he said.
“Not a hand was laid on him.
“I was sitting here for about 45 minutes saying, ‘What are you doing mate? You should be playing sport not robbing people’.”
Two officers who arrived to arrest the youth praised the group as long as it avoided violence or targeting people, Mr Cross said.
He had seen at least 60 burnt-out, crashed or dumped cars since the patrols began, including 24 in one weekend.
Mr Cross and a friend were now using VicRoads records to identify “suspcious“ vehicles with dodgy number plates, he said.
Geelong Acting Inspector Monique Leffanue rejected Mr Cross’s claims of a police patrol shortage.
“Police are out there patrolling the streets on a 24/7 basis.”
Act Insp Leffanue said Mr Cross had not been in contact with police.
“But we’re aware of his activities.”
Act Insp Leffanue backed Neighbouhood Watch groups but discouraged “members of the community taking the law into their own hands”.
“We urge them to call triple zero or report the matter to Crime Stoppers.”
