Upper Mount Gravatt Police Station OIC says officers had a busy weekend, crime increasing

The top cop at one of Brisbane’s biggest police stations says his suburbs are seeing an increase in crime after a spate of recent burglaries and car thefts.

THE officer in charge of one of the biggest police stations on Brisbane’s southside says his officers are starting to see an increase in crime in line with continued easing of COVID restrictions.

Snr Sgt Andrew Dupere, the acting OIC of Upper Mount Gravatt Police Station, said his officers responded to six burglaries and car thefts over the weekend, which he said represented an “increase” to what the station saw over the preceding two-and-a-half months of hard lockdown.

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Snr Sgt Dupere said another type of crime UMG police are beginning to see more of are street robberies, particularly around transport hubs.

In response, the station has launched a new operation targeting this type of crime.

“Officers from UMG will target recidivist known offenders and launch high-profile patrols of transport hubs,” he said.

He urged commuters to be alert to their surroundings, to not “bury” themselves too deeply in their devices, and to remember all railway and busway stations have panic buttons which will alert CCTV operators who will call the police and record the crime.

Upper Mount Gravatt police responded to the following incidents over the weekend, among others:

Friday morning

• At 6.20am on Friday morning, a townhouse was broken into at Mode Pl, Kuraby. Keys to a grey 2015 Hyundai Tuscon were stolen. The vehicle was located two hours later at 8.30am at Wadley St, MacGregor.

Friday evening

• Sometime between 4 – 10pm on Friday evening, a vehicle was unlawfully used in the carpark of Westfield Garden City.

Saturday morning

• Sometime between 9am – 4.30pm a residence was broken into at Rochedale Rd, Rochedale. Keys to a red 2015 Mazda CX-5 wagon were stolen as was subsequently the vehicle.

Saturday evening

• At 10.22pm, a residence at Willow Way, Rochedale was broken into.
• At 11.18pm, a red 2003 Ford Escape was broken into by juveniles at Mount Gravatt Capalaba Rd, Upper Mount Gravatt. The young perpetrators were dealt with under provisions of the Youth Justice Act.

Sunday evening

• At 7.30pm, a blue Ford Focus hatchback parked on Holmead Rd near the Aussie Gardens Caravan Park at Eight Mile Plains was stolen. It is yet to be recovered.

According to the QPS ‘Online Crime Map’, 67 crimes were committed in the 4122, 4113 and 4123 postcodes in the past week.