Revealed: South Burnett streets most likely to be targeted by thieves – interactive map
With a series of shocking crime sprees shaking the community in recent months, new data has revealed the streets most likely to be targeted by criminals. SEE THE FULL MAP HERE:
Police & Courts
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The South Burnett community has been rattled by a shocking spate of property crime that included the alleged violent robbery a woman by a teen, with new police data revealing starting new trends behind the offending.
Statistics from the Queensland Police Service reveal 340 break-ins or thefts have been reported in the South Burnett local government area in the last quarter alone.
This figure includes 81 reports of unlawful entry, 22 unlawful use of motor vehicles, 101 counts of other theft (excluding unlawful entry) and 133 property damage offences.
These figures rise to 624 total offences for the past six months, with December seeing a concerning spike in cases, recording 136 in just one month.
The maps below shows the approximate locations of break-ins across the South Burnett within the past quarter:
Community fears have heightened in recent days after the shocking daylight robbery of a woman last Wednesday.
A teenage boy has been charged after he allegedly punched and robbed a Kingaroy woman outside her home.
Police claim the woman was standing in her driveway when she was approached by the 16-year-old just before 11pm last Wednesday.
Kingaroy Police acting officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Sean Relf said the teenager punched the woman in the face, causing her nose to bleed, and grabbed her handbag.
It will be alleged the boy then fled the scene with the stolen property, running to a nearby car occupied by several other people.
The teenager now faces a stack of fresh break-in and stealing charges.
Police claim the 16-year-old Cherbourg boy committed a string of offences across towns in the Burnett and Gympie regions between February 6 and 10.
Kingaroy Security Patrol general manager Clayton Searies previously spoke to the South Burnett Times and encouraged homeowners to make several key changes to better protect themselves.
“Lock your stuff up … you just don’t know who’s watching, who’s waiting,” Mr Searies said.
“People get complacent in country towns , ‘It‘ll never happen to me’ sort of thing.
“Some of the elderly people are the main victims because they‘ve lived here their whole lives they’ve never been a victim of crime.”
He also said key safes were an “essential” piece of kit for homes.
“One of the best bits of advice I can give to general members of the public would be key safes,” he said.
“Because I know there’s a lot of stolen vehicles going on and to lock your keys up at home is essential.”
Data from QPS suggest most break-ins appear to occur at midnight, with Monday and Friday the most likely days homes are targeted.
Clayton Searies warned last year that break-ins had only be increasing in the 10 years he’d worked in the security industry.
“When I first started the break-ins were very random and minimal,” he said.
“But a lot of the break ins now are on school holidays – I hate to say it, but it‘s true. It’s our kids out there breaking into stuff.”
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