Mareeba youth crime: Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president Joe Moro says what businesses want
A business leader has revealed the key steps that need to be taken to ease the burden on shop fronts enduring constant damage to property.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A FAR North business leader has revealed the key steps that should be taken in order to ease the burden on shop fronts with the constant damaging to property.
Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president Joe Moro said members are frustrated and believe they should not have to put up with the extra stress the crime has on business.
“We’ve been in the space of advocating for more action to be taken,” he said.
“The police are doing what they can but we would like to see more pore police resources in Mareeba. We’d like to see broader funding for CCTV cameras.”
Mr Moro said the group would also like to see some more places where children can be taken to a safe environment.
“It’s about a place where children can be helped to be more productive and also dealing with the parents that are making the home environment not safe,” he said.
“We need social programs that will help out. The policing can only do so much.”
“There’s some good initiatives being put forward by PCYC to get kids off the street and they should be acknowledged for that.”
Mr Moro said business owners were fed up.
“It’s an ongoing concern causing cost to businesses, it’s a wide range of issues from graffiti to vandalism to theft,” he said.
“Broken glass is one that pops up a lot. I have heard recently there’s been a bit more break-ins all over the place.
“There’s also theft that goes on. There’s numerous interactions and its putting a lot of stress on a lot of businesses.”
Mr Moro said it was important to report to the right authorities.
“Crime Stoppers have been saying we need people to report more things. Nothing can be done if it is not being reported,” he said.
A BUSINESS OWNERS PERSPECTIVE AND WHAT POLICE ARE DOING
RESIDENTS in a Far North town have had enough of a problem they say has been escalating for years but one police sergeant has heard the calls and is working on a solution.
Fantasy Tails owner in Mareeba Zac Kroonenburg said his pet shop cannot afford the ongoing damage costs from crime after his store was damaged five times since January 2021.
He said it started with small damages like graffiti on the walls. Later it escalated to smashing of windows which has now given him sleepless nights.
“Every night I go to bed, I lay there and worry something is going to happen to the shop, is it going to be standing the next day? It’s something we shouldn’t have to worry about,” Mr Kroonenburg said.
The most recent damage to his shop front was about a week ago.
“Some guy just walked past and threw a heap of coins and started full on pegging,” he said.
“He threw these coins, completely obliterating two of the four shop front windows. We are looking about $6000 worth of damage there.”
The latest QPS Mareeba Shire Council data has shown there were 122 reported offences against property in February and 89 reported offences against property in March.
Mareeba Police sergeant and PCYC youth club manager Mary-Anne West says she has listened to all the comments from the public about youth being on the streets at night and created a program to try to keep them engaged.
She created Pulse Cafe in January which is a drop-in centre operating four nights a week from 6pm to 9pm.
“The whole idea is to give them life skills while they come for the drop in and target those wondering the streets at night,” she said.
“It’s about getting the kids active and keeping them engaged, it gives them more variety.”
They are currently getting about 36 kids a night between Year 6 and Year 12. They learn life skills and then have dinner together.
“The whole idea of getting them to sit together is us adults get to have a chat to them, and they have a yarn together,” she said.
“Then they clean up together, sweep, mop the tables, wipe the chairs, put it the way it was.”
Sergeant West said this has given her the opportunity to get to know some of them.
“Building the rapport with the young people, they open up and tell me the things that is going around in the town,” she said.
“That is so important cause I get the opportunity to talk to some of the young ones and try to put them on the right track.
“These young people talk about problems at home, relationship problems, lots of things come out.”
Sergeant West said these nights also gives the youth the opportunity to meet some police officers.
“Road policing will pop in. The general crew also. The kids then see police are there to help not just there to lock them up,” she said.
“Kids start to call them by first name. They then see them after hours.”
The reported offences has decreased from February to March but Mr Kroonenburg said the damages still have an impact on the community.
“It has an impact. We are still relatively new and these expenses are holding us back,” he said.
“We’ve had lots of bits and pieces of damage. In January we had some kids throw some balls at some windows. A lot of the minor damage we have to take it out of our own pocket.”
Mr Kroonenburg said if it continued, his insurance premium would also keep going up significantly.
According to the QPS data there were 100 reported assaults including grievous, serious and common in the Mareeba Shire Council LGA in March.
But Mr Kroonenburg said if the crime didn’t stop, it would have an extreme impact on Mareeba and the town’s small businesses.
“I think if it keeps going the way it is going, Mareeba will become a ghost town through the main street,” he said.
Mr Kroonenburg called for more support in the town.
“I do want the state to step in and do a bit more with funding. To try and curb this youth crime,” he said.
“It feels like we are being left in the deep. The people who are meant to be our leaders aren’t standing up.”
Experts have recently linked cutting class with spiralling youth crime rates after new data revealed Far North kids wagged the most in the states.
Sergeant West said the PCYC had many programs including the Community Foundation program which focuses on kids disengaged with school.
It kicks off this week. We’ve got 10 participants for that,” she said.
“We’ve got quite a few that have dropped out at school, we get them those skills to get them job in long term.”
While they have another program called the Blue Edge Program which goes for eight weeks and picks them up before school.
“The whole idea is to keep those young people at risk of disengaging from school,” she said.
“That program, improved schools attendances, the ones at risk at term one have attended.”
“At school the young people have been more settled and more involved in learning.”
Sergeant West said she talked regularly to the Mareeba State High School principal.
YOUTH PANEL UPDATE ON SHARING INFORMATION
Information sharing between different agencies is no longer a problem for the Youth Justice Taskforce as they zero in on repeat offenders at fortnightly panels.
Far North District Crime Group Detective Inspector Kevin Goan said the new panels established in March in Cairns and Mareeba now allow police, Youth Justice and Child Safety a seat at the table.
“As a part of the panels, police are there in what is an open exchange of information having broken down the barriers through a recognised form that open information sharing gets the best possible result for the young person,” he said.
“Previously, the young person’s family had to consent to the information. That is no longer the case for the panels.”
Det Insp Goan said the panels allowed sharing between agencies, including education.
“Through information sharing we have the best possible picture of the impacts of the young person,” he said.
“We can put the right support mechanism around them to try and reduce the offending.
“The important part is some of these children live in hostile environments where they are safer not being at home. I have to emphasise that is not the case in all matters.”
Det Insp Goan said barriers to supplying resources have also been removed.
“Anyone from support services that engages with the child does so without barriers or inhabitations that may have presented through the lack of complete information,” he said.
The panel in Mareeba was established because of 52 identified reoffenders across North Queensland, 17 reoffenders were from the Tablelands Police District, which includes multiple Far North regions including Cassowary Coast, Mareeba and Cape York, he said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Mareeba youth crime: Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president Joe Moro says what businesses want
Get used to my ‘big ideas’: Mayor
Mayor Amy Eden says those critical of her unexpected pitch to buy a stake in Cairns Airport need to get used to her “big ideas” while responding to early feedback.
Community devastated by loss of ‘happy-go-lucky’ town ‘celebrity’ after fatal croc attack
The tiny Queensland town of Aurukun is in mourning after a town “celebrity” known for his friendly nature was snatched from a river bank by a problem crocodile. Warning: Story contains photos of an Indigenous man who has died, published with permission.