Reporting non-urgent crime

If you’ve ever hesitated to report a non-urgent crime because you don’t want to bother the police, you’re not alone.

Older community members tend to under-report crime because they feel like the police have got more important things to do than respond to non-urgent reports of theft, property damage or lost property.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Police Assistance Line

To address this, Victoria Police set up a dedicated phone line and website to make it easier for you to access police services and report non-urgent crimes.

The phone line, called the Police Assistance Line (131 444), and the Online Reporting website let you report crime without calling Triple Zero (000) or contacting your local police station.

They have been set up specifically for non-urgent matters that don’t require an immediate police response – so you don’t have to worry that your call or report is taking police resources away from more serious issues.

Help us to help you

The State Emergency and Security Command’s Assistant Commissioner says that using these new avenues to report crime will help police, even if you think a matter is not worth reporting.

‘Using the Police Assistance Line and the Online Reporting platform will assist police by having the community provide us with valuable information about non-urgent crimes that don’t require time-critical police attendance,’ the Assistant Commissioner said.

‘These are things like theft, property damage, lost property, located property, PartySafe registration, absence from residence registration, noise complaints, neighbourhood disputes and other general non-urgent enquires where you may need advice from police.’

When you call the Police Assistance Line to report an issue you will be asked a series of questions and the matter will be escalated if it needs further police attention.

Lines never close

Both the Police Assistance Line and the Online Reporting website are available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, so you can call when it’s most convenient.

For example, if you lose your wallet on the street, instead of traipsing all the way to your local police station to report it lost, you can make the call right away from your mobile phone.

Of course, whenever you need immediate help that requires police to attend, you should still call Triple Zero (000).