31,000+ crimes: Townsville’s most dangerous suburbs revealed

How safe is your neighbourhood? New figures have revealed the most crime-affected suburbs across Townsville, Charters Towers, Mt Isa, Ingham and Ayr. See how your area rates.

Kirwan, Townsville’s CBD and Aitkenvale have been revealed as some of the most crime-affected parts of Townsville.

The Townsville Bulletin has analysed Queensland Police data to determine how many criminal offences were reported in each North Queensland locality over the past 12 months.

More than 31,600 criminal offences were reported to police in the Townsville district over the past 12 months.

Townsville City had a whopping 2565 crimes reported, with good order, assault, drug and theft offences the most common crimes.

Kirwan followed closely behind with 2475 offences — the most common being theft, unlawful entry and assault.

Among the other worst suburbs for crime in Townsville were Aitkenvale (1896), Garbutt (1231), Rasmussen (980), Kelso (957), Douglas (859), Thuringowa Central (831), South Townsville (758) and Condon (696).

The suburbs with the lowest crime figures were Shelly Beach (0), Florence Bay (2), Town Common (4), West Point (4), Woodstock (5), Murray (7), Rangewood (8), Cungulla (9), Pinnacles (10), Toomulla (11), Gumlow (11) and Majors Creek (11).

It comes as police data shows the number of unlawful entry offences reported in Townsville over the last 12 months has surpassed 4700 — up 22 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

Townsville police launched Operation Casuarina last week to crack down on property crime in the metro region and catch and deter offenders. To date, 37 adults have been charged with 76 offences, and 24 juveniles with 24 offences.

Mount Louisa man Tyson G said he recently became a victim of crime when his home was broken into twice in a matter of weeks.

“A kid picked the lock and stole my laptop the first time. The second time, three kids broke in and stole alcohol,” he said.

“I fear it’s only a matter of time before I get broken into again.

“It’s a constant concern to the point where I’ve had to spend $1500 on a security system and CCTV, and it’s cost me nearly $1000 to have it installed professionally.”

CHARTERS TOWERS

Charters Towers had 1028 criminal offences reported over the past 12 months, with assault and traffic and related offences the most common crimes.

The worst suburbs in the rural town were Charters Towers City (576), Richmond Hill (143), Queenton (118), Mosman Park (35), Millchester (26), Broughton (21) and Black Jack (17).

The suburbs with the lowest crime figures were Columbia (2), Seventy Mile (4), Southern Cross (5), Towers Hill (6), Alabama Hill (7), Grand Secret (16), Toll (16) and Breddan (16).

MOUNT ISA

More than 9000 criminal offences were reported to police in the Mount Isa district over the past 12 months, with the worst suburbs being Pioneer (1357), Mount Isa City (1080), Townview (631), Mornington (604), Menzies (391), Sunset (352), Parkside (302), The Gap (278), Winston (265), Miles End (167), Healy (157) and Soldiers Hill (127).

The suburbs with the lowest crime figures were Spreadborough (5), Breakaway (8), Mica Creek (10), Lanskey (14), Fisher (26), Kalkadoon (30), Ryan (46) and Happy Valley (79).

AYR

In the Ayr district, more than 1200 criminal offences were reported to police over the past 12 months.

The worst suburbs in Ayr were Home Hill (328), Brandon (90), Mcdesme (33), Barratta (24), Airville (19), Alva (17) and Fredericksfield (12).

The suburbs with the lowest crime figures were Carstairs (0), Colevale (0), Airdmillan (1), Upper Haughton (1), Jerona (1), Jarvisfield (4), Mona Park (3), Rita Island (4), Osborne (6), Mount Kelly (6) and Inkerman (10).

INGHAM

In Ingham, 841 criminal offences were reported in the last 12 months, with the worst suburbs being Forrest Beach (54), Lucinda (37), Halifax (33), Toobanna (21), and Blackrock (14).

The suburbs with the lowest crime figures were Dalrymple Creek (0), Upper Stone (0), Long Pocket (0), Peacock Siding (0), Wharps (0), Orient (2), Victoria Plantation (2), Foresthome (3), Gairloch (3), Hawkins Creek (3), Lannercost (4), Trebonne (5), Cordelia (7), Bemerside (8), Taylors Beach (8), Braemeadows (8), Macknade (9) and Helens Hill (9).

The crimes recorded by police in the report were alleged — it was not known if the people charged were found guilty in a court.

Originally published as 31,000+ crimes: Townsville’s most dangerous suburbs revealed