Police Minister Mark Ryan won’t commit to call for Burleigh police beat, Safe Night Precinct status
Police Minister Mark Ryan has responded to increasing calls for extra police and a dedicated beat for troubled Burleigh. See what he said.
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An after-dark fatality on the outskirts of the party hub that’s emerged in Burleigh has renewed calls for an area police station as a southern officer claims a lack of staff to patrol.
A police source told The Bulletin this week: “We haven’t got time to go over Tallebudgera Creek. We are dealing with DV, drugs and the homeless (at Palm Beach). There is no way we can go over Tallebudgera Creek and do a job. Burleigh is on steroids.”
The police insider said the Palm Beach district, covering north to Miami-Nobby Beach, did not have the resources to cover Burleigh too.
“We haven’t got the staff to do an entertainment precinct there. By three in the morning we have one car on the road,” the source said.
“There’s more happening here than Surfers. The pubs are going off at two and three. There’s more violence than Surfers.”
Top criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworth - who has been urging a permanent police beat in Burleigh for months - said additional officers in the area were needed.
“You need police on the ground being there to prevent this kind of behaviour from occurring,” Dr Goldsworthy claimed.
“That’s why you’ve got Orchid Ave police station, because it’s in the guts of Surfers Paradise. Whoever forms government in a month, Burleigh Heads should be front and centre of their concerns.”
The ex-detective now at Bond University has called for the changes after Queensland Police Service staff internal survey results were revealed by the Bulletin.
The confidential QPS’ Working for Queensland Survey from October last year exposed plunging morale within the rank and file and high rates of staff burnout. It also showed Southern and Central Gold Coast officers were suffering higher rates of burnout and stress compared to colleagues in the party and tourism hubs of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.
The Bulletin’s Thin Blue Line series has highlighted debate around whether a permanent police beat or a police station is needed in the coastal village as it evolves into an entertainment night precinct.
In a special report on the weekend, the City estimates up to 32,000 more dwellings around the light rail Stage 3 corridor being built from Broadbeach to Burleigh.
The Bligh Labor Government committed $1.5 million in the 2011/12 state budget to build a brand new Burleigh Heads police beat following a petition to state parliament which attracted hundreds of signatures from concerned residents.
Gold Coast city council voted in support of the facility, which was proposed to be built in parkland near Goodwin Terrace and Hayle Street. But the Newman LNP government scrapped the project a year later with then police minister Jack Dempsey labelling it a “poor” proposal.
Dr Goldsworthy said it must be delivered, alongside a fresh commitment by the State Government to designate Burleigh Heads a Safe Night Precinct.
“The former South Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Brian Wilkins has said that the planning for Burleigh to become a safe night precinct was commenced years ago. If that’s the case, there is no reason that it can’t be progressed urgently,” Dr Goldsworthy said.
“If they want it to be a nightclub precinct then you need to have the appropriate arrangements in place. That won’t necessarily stop the violence or crimes but at least it will provide deterrence and an expedited police response.”
If designated, the move would bring Burleigh Heads into line with Surfers Paradise, and see tighter restriction on trading hours at licensed premises and require venues to implement ID scanners as a condition of entry.
Community safety and additional police resources have been the main campaign platform for the LNP’s Burleigh candidate Hermann Vorster.
“This is a shocking reminder of the desperate need for a permanent police presence in Burleigh” Mr Vorster said regarding the recent alleged fatal attack.
“It’s no wonder the community has rallied behind the ‘Stop Burleigh Crime’ campaign I launched in April.”
The public petition demanding the state government commit more police resources to the area, had attracted almost 750 signatures from local residents before submission closed on Wednesday evening, according to Mr Vorster.
“The community are demanding more police permanently here in Burleigh Heads to deal with escalating anti-social behaviour threatening our relaxed coastal atmosphere” he said.
“I want the community to know that I will fight to make sure our hardworking police are supported with more resources and stronger laws.”
In May, police bosses said they had started deploying additional officers to southern Gold Coast night spots including Burleigh due to the surge in demand.
Eight officers were reportedly tasked with patrolling night-life venues from Burleigh down to Coolangatta on Friday and Saturday nights.
At the time, Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said part of the problem had come from troublemakers who were banned from the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach party precincts heading to venues in bustling beachside suburbs such as Burleigh.
“Late last year we identified that there was an increase in people attending the entertainment precincts from Burleigh down to Coolangatta. From that we did a bit of research and analysis, and what we did only in the last couple of months is we’ve actually deployed eight police to patrol the entertainment precincts from Burleigh down to Coolangatta every Friday and Saturday night,” he said.
“That’s on top of what we normally do on a Friday and Saturday night to address calls for service.
“But we’ve got those officers dedicated to looking at those entertainment precincts in and around those licenced premises.
“We’re seeing people who may have had banning notices from Surfers or Broadbeach Safe Night Precincts heading down there, so we’re doing that Friday and Saturday night,” Chief Supt Hanlon said.
The move came as business owners and residents in Burleigh call for a greater police presence in the area.
In the preceding month the Bulletin had reported:
* How women working in the area of the James St shopping precinct are afraid to walk to their cars at night.
* How small business owners have repeatedly been targeted by gangs of juvenile offenders.
* How groups of drug affected people had caused havoc by chasing and abusing staff and customers of James St stores.
POLICE MINISTER RESPONDS TO CALLS FOR BURLEIGH CRIME FIX
Police Minister Mark Ryan refuses to commit to extra police or a dedicated beat for troubled Burleigh - and wants to see a formal community approach for Safe Night Precinct status.
Calls for both have been growing for months amid a spate of assaults and anti-social behaviour along with increased nightlife in the idyllic suburb. Renewed calls have emerged this week following an alleged unlawful strike in the party hotspot late last month which claimed the life of 22-year-old man Cameron Duce.
Retired Gold Coast police boss Chief Superintendent Jim Keogh, formerly responsible for cleaning up alcohol fuelled violence in Surfers Paradise, has also long supported proposals for a dedicated police presence in Burleigh as a “no brainer” and said the area should also become a designated Safe Night Precinct.
“With the imminent expansion of light rail to Burleigh, increasing development, and now a tragic death, now is not the time to procrastinate,” Mr Keogh said.
“All solutions need to be on the table for consideration.”
The state government has stopped short of any commitment on extra staff, a police beat or SNP status which paves the way for a beefed up safety response which is in place in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.
Asked about whether it was time to reconsider a police beat in Burleigh and declare it an SNP, Police Minister Mark Ryan said in a statement: “I wish to extend my sincere sympathies to the family and friends of the young man who has lost his life. No-one should go on a night out and not make it safely home.
“In relation to police facilities and resourcing, these rightly, are operational matters for the Queensland Police Service, however a re-elected Miles Government will work co-operatively with police in relation to police resources on the southern Gold Coast, including at Burleigh Heads.
“The government has a strong record supporting police, including providing police with specific funding to conduct extreme high visibility patrols to disrupt and prevent crime on the Gold Coast.”
On the SNP query, it’s understood his office would want to see formal community and local government support for that status communicated to the Attorney-General.
LNP’s Burleigh candidate Hermann Vorster has made community safety and extra police a main campaign plank.
On Wednesday, he said of the alleged unlawful strike and Mr Duce’s after-dark death: “This is a shocking reminder of the desperate need for a permanent police presence in Burleigh.
“It’s no wonder the community has rallied behind the ‘Stop Burleigh Crime’ campaign I launched in April.”
A petition demanding the state government commit more police resources had attracted almost 750 signatures from local residents before submissions closed on Wednesday, he said.
“The community are demanding more police permanently here in Burleigh Heads to deal with escalating anti-social behaviour threatening our relaxed coastal atmosphere,” he said.
“I want the community to know that I will fight to make sure our hardworking police are supported with more resources andstronger laws.”
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