Dean Park, Townsville: Residents say anti-social behaviour driving them crazy

Police have launched a crackdown on appalling anti-social and allegedly criminal behaviour in a notorious Townsville park, with tortured local residents saying they are at their wits’ end.

Townsville Police officers on duty. Photographs from Dean Park photographed from Morey and Morehead streets in the centre of Townsville. Picture: Cameron Bates

Police have launched a crackdown on appalling anti-social and allegedly criminal behaviour in a notorious Townsville park, with tortured local residents saying they are at their wits’ end.

Queensland Police Service confirmed on Friday that it was “continuing proactive foot patrols in Dean Park as part of ongoing operation to target anti-social behaviour and alcohol-fuelled violence”.

A QPS spokeswoman said officers approached a group of people and disposed of alcohol being consumed in a public place on Thursday night.

She said a man, 39, who refused a direction to leave the park due to disorderly behaviour and a second man, 50, who had refused to obey an earlier move-on direction had been arrested and charged with one count each of contravene direction of a police officer.

Both men are due to face Townsville Magistrates Court on August 16.

A supplied photograph showing a a group of people gathering in Dean Park, allegedly breaching Townsville City Council bylaws. Picture: Supplied

A local resident, who does not wish to be identified due to fears of reprisals, said she had been making complaints about the horrific behaviour in the park for “years”.

“It’s unsafe, we can’t sleep, we can’t leave anything open, you heard the screaming, it’s torturous... it affects all of us psychologically.”

A Townsville City Council claiming that Dean Park is closed from 7pm to 5am and that alcohol is banned from being brought into the park and consumed. The toothless warning claims that a failure to comply will result in confiscation and that “penalties may apply”. Picture: Cameron Bates

The resident said home owners had been subjected to ongoing trauma due to exposure to noise pollution from verbal abuse and fighting in the park, sex acts in public, sexual assaults and physical and domestic violence.

They said she had made numerous complaints to Townsville City Council, Townsville Police, Townsville MP Scott Stewart and Police Minister Mark Ryan.

“Until I contacted Mark Ryan, QPS were saying it’s TCC’s problem and TCC saying it was QPS so there was this passing of the buck; I tried for 2.5 years to manage it through noise complaints and it has just been getting worse.”

“While we have all the usuals there and they are problematic every night … what I have noticed is the presentation of people under the influence of drugs and we are seeing a lot of syringes around here as well and more violence,” she said.

“Also, I noticed the elders that used to sit here and (moderate behaviour) have moved further up there and won’t be any part of it; the elders won’t even sit down here now.”

Another resident said the “noise, singing, shouting and carrying on” had been abnormally worse over the past week.

“It starts after midnight and carries on till about 4am, 4.30am and then it suddenly goes quiet and they disappear.”

Townsville Police officers on duty in Dean Park in the centre of the city. Picture: Cameron Bates

The first resident said they would never consider moving from the apartment complex, saying Dean Park “needs to be fixed.”

They said there needed to be a coordinated response between the TCC, QPS and the justice system in which court orders stipulated that repeat offenders were excluded by law from Dean Park with any breach resulting in prison.

Townsville Police officers on duty. Photographs from Dean Park photographed from Morey and Morehead streets in the centre of Townsville. Picture: Cameron Bates

The resident said she realised that a potential major crackdown ran the risk of simply moving the problem to someone else’s backyard.

“I do realise that but at the moment I don’t care, that sounds horrible … I just want them to be treated the same way as me: if I was doing that I would be arrested.”

QPS said Operation Kamaria was launched in November 2021 “to address alcohol related crime in public spaces throughout Townsville”.

“The current operation is a continuation of our commitment to addressing these behaviours in collaboration with our partner agencies and funded organisations,” the spokeswoman said.

“The QPS will continue to utilise Operation Kamaria for community safety into the future.”

TCC has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Dean Park, Townsville: Residents say anti-social behaviour driving them crazy