Townsville police’s RAP unit merged as Minister vows ‘backup is on the way’ to address city’s crime crisis

Townsville’s crack Rapid Action Patrol unit has been quietly dissolved, its cops folded into the Tactical Crime Squad. But top brass insist locals won’t feel the difference, even as the Police Minister concedes, “crime is still too high.”

The Rapid Action Patrol (RAP) unit waging war on property crime in Townsville has been quietly dissolved, its officers absorbed into the Tactical Crime Squad — but top brass insist locals won’t notice a difference in response times.

The RAP, launched in 2012, was created in the city as a property crime fighting unit, dedicated to quickly responding to calls for service and rounding up known offenders.

But multiple police sources have confirmed the unit is now gone, its members folded into a wider operational team.

Acting Superintendent Erin Shawcross assured residents the change was about streamlining, not scaling back.

“We have a Property Crime Squad here as well, and certainly the Tactical Crime Squad and Rapid Action Patrol group, their priorities and tasking were very similar,” he said.

“So the reason to merge them was simply for easier of managerial oversight, because ultimately they were doing a very similar job on a day-to-day basis.”

Asked whether Townsville should brace for slower responses, AC Shawcross was blunt.

“It shouldn’t have changed at all,” he said.

Police Minister Dan Purdie was in Townsville to trumpet the success of the State Flying Squad, which charged 20 people — including 17 hardened repeat offenders — with 110 offences between April 29 and May 6.

The merger has reignited political flashbacks. In 2020, when RAP was first under review, then-Opposition spokesman Dan Purdie didn’t hold back.

“At a time when Townsville has faced serious crime issues over the last five years it beggars belief this police squad would be wound up,” Mr Purdie said at the time.

Now Police Minister, his tone has shifted.

“I just want to make it clear now that I’m the Minister, I can’t be influencing operational decisions,” he told the Bulletin.

“If it was put to me in 2020 that the squad was disappearing, I probably would have been alarmed about that, and I’d probably still be alarmed about it. But from what I’ve just been briefed this morning, is that all those people were doing a similar job to another squad, and they’ve just merged with the Tactical Crime Squad.”

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said it had faced some “recruiting challenges”.

She said that specialist roles in MOCS, RAP and TCS were recruited into from “experienced police officers”, rather than recruits and junior staff.

“The Townsville Tactical Crime Squad operates 24/7 to meet the demand from the local community. Due to operational reasons, the QPS does not disclose information on exact staffing numbers,” the spokeswoman said.

“All units must manage vacancies from time to time however the QPS continues to evaluate its service delivery models to ensure the proactive delivery of efficient and effective policing services.”

The spokeswoman said the specialist units had “sufficient staff and resources to deliver professional policing services to Townsville and surrounds”.

Mr Purdie was in Townsville on Thursday to trumpet the success of the State Flying Squad, which charged 20 people — including 17 hardened repeat offenders — with 110 offences between April 29 and May 6.

Among them was a 12-year-old girl allegedly caught mid-break-in, who is facing more than 20 charges.

Yet even Minister Purdie admitted the bigger battle isn’t over.

“Crime in Townsville is still too high,” he said.

“It is unacceptable the levels of crime in Townsville, which is why we are listening to victims and our police, like I’ll be doing today, giving them tougher laws.”

When asked how he’d reassure locals battered by relentless crime waves, the Police Minister fired back with a promise: “Backup is on the way.”

“Whether it’s, as I’ve been saying to our local police when I visit the stations today and to the community across Townsville, we committed to giving our police tougher laws to hold these young offenders to account, coupled with more boots on the ground,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it’s not going to change overnight. But we are going to continue to give our police the tougher laws and the resources. We have a decade of decline — crime went up year on year under Labor — and we’ll continue to do everything we can until we see that driving downwards.”

Originally published as Townsville police’s RAP unit merged as Minister vows ‘backup is on the way’ to address city’s crime crisis