‘Throw everything at crime’: Premier to boost police resources as election looms
Hundreds more police officers will be added to Queensland’s frontline and a new helicopter based in the state’s far north under Premier Steven Miles’ latest suite of promises to combat crime.
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Hundreds more police officers will be added to Queensland’s frontline and a new helicopter based in the state’s far north under Premier Steven Miles’ latest suite of promises to combat crime.
Mr Miles will commit the state government to boosting Queensland Police by 900 personnel, including 500 sworn officers, by mid-2027 despite current struggles to meet an existing 2020 election promise to recruit 2025 staff by 2025.
The latest recruitment promise comes six months out from an election where community anger over crime and safety is set to boil over at the ballot box.
The state government is about 600 personnel — or 30 per cent — short of the 2025 target at the moment with just months left to go.
Queensland Police has struggled to recruit at pace with attrition, with a Queensland Auditor-General report in November 2023 noting the number of police officers had declined by 202 in 2022/23.
Queensland Auditor-General Brendan Worrall was also scathing of the government’s 2020 election target, finding it was “not informed by evidence-based analysis of demand for services”.
But the Queensland Police is confident its recruitment pipeline was the strongest it has ever been with 700 recruits undergoing training while more than 2000 hopefuls wait in the wings.
Mr Miles will also announce the state’s PolAir fleet will be expanded to Cairns, months after he extended the capability to Townsville after years of government resistance.
The cost of buying the choppers for Townsville and Cairns won’t be known until the procurement process is finalised. The Townsville chopper has to date undertaken 110 flights and responded to 177 calls for service, which included tracking down 75 offenders and recovering 41 vehicles.
Mr Miles, flanked by newly-minted police commissioner Steve Gollschewski, has spent the week jetting across Queensland spruiking crime initiatives as the state government comes under increasing community pressure months out from the October election.
“We’ll throw everything at preventing and disrupting crime – that starts with having more police than ever before patrolling the streets of Queensland,” Mr Miles said.
“I’ve listened to Police who tell me they want more boots on the ground and the staff at the station who ensure operations run smoothly.”
New government data released this week revealed there was a staggering 11.2 per cent increase in Queensland’s crime rate in 2022/23 compared to the year before, with 11,089 offences committed per 100,000 people.
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