‘Going in right direction’: Car theft figures down in 2023, but top cop left unsatisfied

The number of stolen vehicles throughout Cairns may have plummeted from the record breaking tally of 1299 last year but a senior Far North cop reckons there’s room for improvement.

Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said he was pleased the figures were decreasing, but was still unsatisfied with the amount of cars stolen. Picture: Brendan Radke

The number of stolen vehicles across the greater Cairns region has decreased significantly from last year with 799 vehicles reported as stolen to police compared to 1299 last year.

Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said he was pleased the figures were decreasing, but was still unsatisfied with the amount of cars stolen.

“We’re very pleased we’ve got the figures going in the right direction but we’re not satisfied with where we’re at and we’re working hard to reduce offending in the community,” Det Insp Chetham said.

Det Insp Chetham said high visibility patrols, additional staff and funding for Operation Victor Unison had contributed greatly to keeping numbers low.

A total of 799 vehicles wre reported as stolen in 2023. Picture: Facebook

“High visibility and more staff on the ground for longer hours has been making it tough for offenders and those patrols will continue in 2024, hopefully keeping the rate of offending down,” he said.

“We have co-ordinated our resources better than ever this year between investigators, detectives and frontline staff. We have been working to be at the right place at the right time. “High visibility patrols has made life a bit more difficult for offenders which has resulted in these figures going down 500 from the year before.”

But the number of hardened recidivists is growing according to the latest Childrens Court of Queensland data, with 20 per cent of all young offenders now considered a “Serious Repeat Offender” under the official index. It means there are now 652 children in this cohort — up from 568 the year before.

Stevie Burke’s 70 Series LandCruiser was stolen from Parramatta Park earlier this year later located in a gated industrial yard in Portsmith.

The group is also committing more crime, with the data revealing hardened youths committed 54.5 per cent of proven offences dealt with by the courts up from 48 per cent in 2021/22.

The sheer number of offences has also surged by 15 per cent, with all three levels of the courts dealing with 43,031 charges in 2022/23 up from 37,156 the year before.

Det Insp Chetham said while a small number of youth offenders were recidivists, most of the juveniles they encountered did not continue down that path.

Three tenagers allegedly lost control of a stolen car and crashed into a tree at Edmonton. Picture: Cairns, Crimes and Alerts Facebook page

“We have a small cohort of offenders that are recidivists. We see them quite often. Most of juveniles we deal with don’t become recidivist offenders but the small group thus far have been difficult to keep out (of recidivism),” he said.

“Police are engaging with young people all the time with our youth correspondence team. They are continually referring kids into programs that give them life skills and more positive outcomes. Those that engage in them get more positive outcomes. We’re working hard to get those kids to engage with them.”

Originally published as ‘Going in right direction’: Car theft figures down in 2023, but top cop left unsatisfied