Ex prison boss Keith Hamburger to host Cairns crime forum
Skyrocketing rates of armed robbery, weapon crime and car theft will be front of mind for victims attending an upcoming crime forum in Cairns hosted by a former Queensland prison boss.
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Skyrocketing rates of armed robbery, weapon crime and car theft will be front of mind for victims attending an upcoming crime forum in Cairns.
Cairns Regional Council reported offence data for January and February in 2024 compared with the same months this year reveals a remarkable increase in certain offences.
Armed robbery offences jumped 380 per cent from just five offences in 2024 to 24 earlier this year.
There was a reported increase in all offences within the Cairns local government area.
Unlawful use of motor vehicle was up 44.29 per cent, possess and/or use weapons jumped 127.78 per cent and rape surged 11.54 per cent from 26 to 29 offences.
Assault, robbery, unlawful entry and shop stealing all rose between 6 and 30 per cent.
Local data is at odds with statewide government numbers that show a 32 per cent drop in cases against children charged with at least one of an initial 13 offences included in the new laws.
Organised by crime victim advocate Trudy Reading the crime forum was set up at the invitation of the Cairns business community.
“Residents and business owners in Cairns have been significantly impacted by rising crime levels, particularly youth crime,” she said.
“People are wanting some business solutions and they have heard about Keith’s model for a different kind of detention option and he will talk about what that might look like.
“And we are hoping to get community support so the government will agree to a trial.”
The event will be hosted by former Queensland prison boss Keith Hamburger.
Mr Hamburger, who ran prisons for more than a decade believes youth detention centres should be revolutionised into a network of therapeutic healing centres to fix the juvenile crime crisis in the long-term.
“I have been arguing for a while that we need a different approach and a range of different sentencing options to be in place,” he said.
“We have to do something about the families from whence they come and we have to stop creating more offenders.
“We have to do a lot of work in crime prevention in those communities and rehabilitating them.
“The recidivism rate is awful and a lot of offenders go into adult jails because we are not dealing with them as children.
“And we have to take the repeat offenders off the street.”
The crime forum follows damning new statistics revealed in April including that the number of youth offenders charged with stealing cars and robbery has tripled in the past decade.
The Queensland Crime Report 2023-24 also showed the most common age of an offender in Queensland was just 15.
The community crime seminar will be held at the civic reception room of the council offices on Spence St from 6pm.
Seats are limited so register to secure your seat through the TryBooking website.
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Originally published as Ex prison boss Keith Hamburger to host Cairns crime forum
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