169 car thefts, burglaries in 180 days: Brisbane’s worst-hit suburbs exposed

Police have responded to more than 4000 Brisbane burglaries in the past six months, latest figures show. Now, a suburb-by-suburb breakdown shows how bad things are where you live.

Police have responded to more than 4000 burglaries across Brisbane in the past six months, with one suburb under siege from thieves, recording 169 car thefts and break ins in just 180 days.

Brisbane City had the unfavourable honour of being the car theft and break in hotspot with 169 car thefts and burglaries in just 180 days this year (137 break ins and 32 car thefts).

West End is the city’s car theft capital with 37 thefts since March and when combined with break ins, recorded 133 incidents.

Queensland crime data analysed by The Courier-Mail showed a 23 per cent increase in car thefts from 2018-19 to 2019-20 across Greater Brisbane.

But after that rise, the Brisbane region is now showing a decrease in both unlawful entry and property offences.

Unlawful entry was down 15 per cent for the 2020/21 financial year compared to the year before, while property offences were down 18 per cent.

Car theft was down 6 per cent.

Bond University professor and former police Detective Dr Terry Goldsworthy said with these crimes commonly committed by repeat offenders, it would be “incredibly frustrating” for police to see offenders back on the street.

“Police arrest people and oppose bail, put up arguments against young high risk offenders, they don’t want them out in the community and unfortunately we are seeing that they are still getting out and committing these very serious offences,” he said.

Dr Terry Goldsworthy

There have been 4345 unlawful entries since 18 February across Brisbane’s 190 suburbs with Brisbane City and Woolloongabba recording triple digits.

Brisbane City had the highest figures with 137 break ins and 32 car thefts, followed by West End who saw a total of 133 incidents.

A Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council report on unlawful use of a motor vehicle revealed that between 2005-06 and 2019-20, 28 per cent of car thefts were by children and young offenders.

Of those offenders, the report showed the most common penalty was probation, with 22.3 per cent having received that sentence.

According to a Suncorp survey of 3000 people across Australia, nearly one third of Australians have had their house broken into at some point in their life.

Traditionally Suncorp saw much higher theft claims in Queensland across Summer months.

A Suncorp spokeswoman said there were a number of measures residents could take to prevent cars from being stolen.

“Most cars stolen from or broken into at the owner’s home are a result of being left unlocked because the vehicle is parked on the property assuming it will be safe, but thieves are also aware of this and will walk onto the property to check for unsecured cars,” she said.

“When leaving your car unattended, park in high foot traffic areas to deter opportunistic thieves. When parking anywhere unsecured overnight, park it in a well-lit area.”

Speaking this week after a horror break-in at the home of Wallabies legend Toutai Kefu, Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said Queenslanders had a right to feel safe in their homes.

Toutai Kefu. Picture: Marc Robertson

He said people were sick of repeat offenders – particularly juveniles.

Mr Leavers this week said bail was a “privilege not a right” and that laws should be toughened to stop repeat juvenile offenders being released into the community.

“If the courts are unwilling to do this, we need to legislate it accordingly,” he said.

“What we are seeing is these serious crimes (and) the people of Queensland have had enough and they deserve to be protected.”

Mr Leavers said juvenile offenders released on bail should be given GPS trackers and if they commit another offence, they should remain locked up until their matters are dealt with.

Opposition Police spokesman Dale Last said the State Government should restore the offence of breach of bail for juvenile offenders.

He said recently strengthened legislation around juvenile offenders – bringing in GPS trackers in certain circumstances – was not being used.

“While families and communities are being torn apart, not a single GPS tracker has been fitted on a young offender,” he said.

“The State Government must start holding these youth offenders responsible when they breach their bail.”