Unmarked cars patrol streets in youth crime crackdown

Young crims have been put on notice — a police strike team is patrolling the streets in unmarked cars looking to arrest kids breaking the law.

Police are watching and are patrolling the streets in unmarked cars to crack down on juvenile offenders.

YOUNG crims have been put on notice — a police strike team is patrolling the streets in unmarked cars looking to arrest kids breaking the law.

The taskforce hit Logan suburbs yesterday after statistics in March showed the majority of juvenile crimes were committed by a small, hard-core group of repeat offenders.

Queensland Police Service figures released in February showed a 30 per cent drop in the number of young offenders across the state since 2010 with repeat offenders committing 44 per cent of all youth crimes.

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Tougher bail conditions would be part of the strategy to crack the youth crime bubble.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said police officers would seek to remand in custody youths who posed an unacceptable risk of reoffending.

“Police are being proactive in seeking reviews of bail decisions where it is believed unacceptable risk exists,” he said.

“To date, police have successfully reviewed three court decisions to release a young person on bail.”

The patrol teams, made up of police and youth justice workers riding together, are part of a five-point action plan to pull young criminals off Logan streets.

The patrols could not have come sooner for Springwood mother Janine Grey who launched a campaign in February to get police to target repeat child offenders.

“This is a step forward but we also need tougher bail conditions to ensure the small group of constant offenders keeps getting smaller,” she said.

Vivian McDermott, middle, with Rochedale South and Springwood residents who launched a campaign in February for tougher bail conditions after a spate of youth crimes in their neighbourhoods. AAP Image/Renae Droop

MORE POLICE FOR LOGAN

NO FUNDING IN BUDGET FOR EXTRA POLICE

Youth Minister Di Farmer said the government had listened to feedback from residents and all aspects of the five-point plan were expected to be up and running by July.

She said the state had also invested $500 million on cutting youth crime, including new youth detention centre beds and early intervention programs.

“These new measures are aimed at hard-core offenders and leave no doubt that the safety of the community always comes first,” Ms Farmer said.

“While police and youth justice workers have always worked together to keep the community safe, it is great to see them now officially on the road together for the first time to target crime hot spots and hard-core repeat offenders.”

A taskforce to crack down on youth crime has started in Logan.

Youth crime was in the spotlight on Sunday when a 15-year-old Woodridge boy and a 17-year-old Marsden girl were involved in a high-speed police chase across Logan in a stolen car.

The State Opposition in March said 121 of the 145 offenders who were part of the bail house program in Queensland had committed more crime after leaving.

Since 2017, there has been 36 young people living at the Supervised Community Accommodation at Carbrook and 21 at a house at Logan Reserve.

Griffith University Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Ross Homel said his evidence showed incarceration and harsher bail conditions led to a 12 per cent hike in crime.

More than $15 million has been committed over three years to implement the plan, which also includes tougher action on bail, indigenous programs and funding for community-based committees.

Macalister MP Melissa McMahon said the strike teams would send a clear message to the criminals that illegal, lawless behaviour would not be tolerated.

“I’ve been keeping ministers up to date with feedback from our community to ensure Logan is part of the youth crime crackdown,” she said.

“Protecting the safety of the local community is paramount and that’s exactly why the strike teams are targeting repeat, hardcore youth offenders.”