New crime stats show youth crime strategy is paying off in Darling Downs

A youth crime strategy launched after the death of Robert Brown appears to be paying off, with large drops in the number of offences committed by teens.

A raft of crime prevention and enforcement programs launched in the wake of Robert Brown’s death in 2023 are showing signs of success, with Darling Downs police recording a large drop in youth crime.

A comparison of figures from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial year shows there was a 27 per cent drop in the number of unlawful use of motor vehicle offences committed by teenagers in our region.

There was also a 28 per cent drop in robberies, a 19 per cent drop in assault and a 4 per cent drop in break and enter offences.

Darling Downs Superintendent Doug McDonald welcomed the stats and said his officers had been “unrelenting” in their pursuit of offenders.

“In recent weeks we have had a spike in offending, but my team knows who the offenders are and we have deployed Taskforce Guardian in the past week and Polair has been up here twice in the past two weeks,” he said.

“We have since remanded a number of young offenders.”

QPS Superintendent Doug McDonald. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The drop in youth crime accompanies a drop in overall crime.

Adjusted for population growth, the rate of offences against person, such as robbery, assault and sexual violence dropping by 4 per cent, while property crime is down about 11 per cent.

In absolute numbers, break and enter offences committed by adults and teens is down 21 per cent, while unlawful use of a motor vehicle is down 19 per cent.

Superintendent McDonald said part of the drop was down to enforcement but was also linked to crime prevention programs like the Youth Co-Responder Program.

Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer spoke with Toowoomba's youth crime co-responder team in January 2024. Picture: Social Media

It pairs sworn officers with Youth Justice case workers to support the families of high risk teens with housing, education and employment.

The teams also conduct bail and curfew checks with known offenders several times a day and help the young people get back into school or employment.

“I know one of the young people has gone into a career in the military,” Superintendent McDonald said.

“He came out as lead recruit for his induction, he absolutely smashed it.

“We are seeing some really great things happen for these kids when they are getting the support they need.”

Since May 2023 the teams have conducted more than 3600 engagements with young offenders, more than 3700 bail and curfew checks and more than 4100 intervention with the parents, siblings and careers.

“It is not going to be successful for all kids, but you have got to try,” Superintendent McDonald said.

“There is success with persistence.”

Originally published as New crime stats show youth crime strategy is paying off in Darling Downs