Call for police beat at Thornlands after no mobile police patrols for over a year

Residents of a bayside crime hotspot have called for a police beat to be included in tomorrow’s state budget after startling data showed their suburb was left off mobile police patrols for more than a year. CHECK YOUR SUBURB

Police at the scene of a fire which gutted a tobacconist at Thornlands last month. Picture: Contributed

Residents of a bayside crime hotspot have called for the release of public sector workforce data ahead of tomorrow’s state budget, after startling policing statistics showed their suburb was left off mobile police patrols for 18 months.

The Redland suburb of Thornlands, where the crime rate has blown out by 25 per cent over two years, has had no recorded mobile police patrols since 2020 despite a petition by 287 residents in 2019.

The lack of patrols was revealed only on Friday when Police Minister Mark Ryan listed suburbs the Wynnum-based mobile police beat had visited in the state electorate of Redlands.

The elctorate covers Thornlands, Victoria Point and the southern Moreton Bay islands and Coochiemudlo.

Mr Ryan said the mobile police beat officers patrolled the bayside electorate 44 times between October 16, 2021 and April 25, 2023.

They chalked up 336 hours in the area, an average of 28 visits a year or about 2.34 times a month.

But the list did not include patrols of Thornlands, which made headlines last month after a fatal car crash along with an arson at a local shopping centre and a local skate park where residents filmed youth detonating homemade bombs, vandalising a toilet block and spreading graffiti.

“I am further advised that the Mobile Police Beat was deployed at a number of locations across the Bayside Patrol Group, Victoria Point, Mt Cotton, Redland Bay, Coochiemudlo Island, Capalaba, Cleveland, Alexandra Hills and Dunwich,” he said.

“This Mobile Police Beat was also deployed to other areas outside of the Redlands electorate, but still within the Redlands area and broader South Brisbane District during this period.”

Mr Ryan said police decided where and when to send the mobile patrol based on operational policing demand and direct service delivery requirements, to ensure a fair and equitable service across the state.

In the past year, Victoria Point had 836 offences recorded by police, Redland Bay 806 an Thornlands 459, behind Cleveland’s 1500 and Capalaba’s 1400.

LNP candidate for Redlands Rebecca Young called for the release for the government’s long-overdue Public Sector Workforce Profile report ahead of the budget to give taxpayers details of the number of police on the ground in the community.

“The government has promised to employ an extra 1450 police by 2025 but the government’s own budget documents show police numbers are going backwards across Queensland,” Ms Young said.

“Thornlands was not listed as a visited location and according to QPS mapping.

“In the past six months the suburb has had 252 offences compared to Mt Cotton, named as a visited location, which had 74 offences.

“The lack of a police presence at Victoria Point, in particular, is a major concern with police doing what they can with the resources they have.

“Police are stretched too thin with locals consistently telling me that more visible policing is required and asking why the promised Mobile Police Beat van is rarely seen in the area.”

A man hides in bushes at night in Teak Lane at Victoria Point in May before police come searching for him. Picture: Contributed

Victoria Point resident Maria Sealy launched a petition in 2019 calling for a dedicated police beat station, similar to that at the Hyperdome, for Victoria Point Shopping Centre.

That plea came after her 2015 bid for a fully-fledged police station at Victoria Point after armed thugs held up the Victoria Point Tavern and got drinkers to lie on the floor while they fleeced the joint.

She said it was no longer viable for residents of Victoria Point and Thornlands to rely on the closest police stations at Cleveland and Redland Bay.

“Victoria Point and the neighbouring suburb of Thornlands are experiencing massive population growth, which has brought with it an increased in anti-social behaviour, including robberies, punch-ups outside fast food outlets, youths running amok at night, drug taking, trafficking, graffiti and drinking alcohol in parks,” she said.

“Recently there have been people walking around at night carrying knives, scissors, slashing residents’ tyres, breaking and entering, and urinating in public spaces.

“The Police do an amazing job but the current policing for Victoria Point is no longer working due to the lack of additional police resources and no regular patrols or foot patrols.

“There is also a need for harsher penalties for under-age offenders in an effort to stop the cycle of reoffending.

“We want a Neighbourhood Police Beat and a backup support system for Victoria Point and Thornlands.”

■ The 2022 Estimated Resident Population for Victoria Point is 15,379, with a population density of 1148 persons per sq km.