State of fear: Prisoners in our own homes amid spiralling crime wave

Fewer than half of Queenslanders feel safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods at night, according to the latest police figures.

Andreas Nicola

@AndreasNicola97

3 min read

October 9, 2023 - 12:00AM

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll on Sunday. Picture Lachie Millard

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Fewer than half of Queenslanders feel safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods at night, according to new police performance figures.

The startling figure is contained within the 2022-23 Queensland Police Service annual report, which also reveals fewer than a third of people feel safe on public transport in the evening.

It comes as the state’s top cop warns against citizens taking the law into their own hands after two incidents at the weekend.

The report shows the two “public perception of safety” measures have been declining since their introduction in 2018-19.

Back then, 53.4 per cent felt “very safe” or “safe” walking alone in their neighbourhood during the night, compared with just 48.5 per cent now.

Feeling “very safe” or “safe” while catching public transport at night fell from 32.3 per cent to 29.6 per cent over the same period.

In 2018-19, 92 per cent of Queenslanders said they felt safe walking alone in the neighbourhood during the day, but that measure has not been published in annual reports since.

All the public perception numbers come from respondents to the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing.

Cop-turned-criminologist Terry Goldsworthy said the perceptions were based on reality.

“I am not surprised perceptions of public safety are down; that’s going to be a flow-on effect from the reality of crime being up,” he said.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll warned vigilantes they could be committing a crime themselves, after extraordinary footage emerged of a motorist chasing down teens in a stolen car on the Gold Coast, crossing on to the wrong side of the road during the pursuit.

On Sunday, footage also emerged of a vigilante taking back a “stolen” motorcycle in Townsville.

“The concern I have there is, people who do that don’t have all the knowledge, the skills, particularly the knowledge and the information (that police have),” Ms Carroll said.

“We’ve seen examples of where vigilantism has gone wrong and people have died as a result and people have been injured as a result.

“You’ve got to be careful that you yourself don’t commit a crime or commit an act where someone is hurt.”

Voice For Victims founder Ben Cannon said there was a message to the government in the vigilante actions.

“If you let these kids roam the streets and cause harm to the community, then you run the risk of blood on your hands,” he said.

Criminologist Terry Goldsworthy

Mr Cannon said that with the rise in crime it was only natural people didn’t feel safe in their homes.

“People feel that the level of crime is escalating, it doesn’t seem like it’s petty crime any more,” he said.

Mr Cannon said the fact people felt they hadn’t been listened to was the reason victims of crime had marched outside parliament in August.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said additional resources had been given to police to make them more visible and more available to the public through Operation Victor Unison.

“And certainly the feedback we’re receiving is that communities are seeing police more often, more regularly, and are more engaged,” he said.

Mr Ryan hoped the results on public safety would be better next year.

In the latest report, the public’s perception of police performance was also down. It revealed 75.6 per cent of people said they had confidence in the police – below the target of more than 85 per cent.

Other performance measures including “police treat people fairly and equally” and “police are honest” were below both last year’s figure and the target.

Mr Goldsworthy said it could be a hangover from when police were used to enforce, that police interacted poorly with the public, or that the targets were unrealistic.

A Queensland police spokesman said changes in society and the economic environment presented many challenges for QPS.