State Government to announce new five-point action plan to crackdown on youth crime

Deep community anger has driven the State Government to deliver a five-point action plan to tackle rising rates of youth crime across Queensland. VOTE IN OUR POLL

THE State Government will today announce a new crackdown on youth crime, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk acknowledging deep community anger on the issue.

Declaring that criminals should “fear the law”, Ms Palaszczuk will announce a “five-point action plan” that will include a “blitz on bail” and targeted, on-country rehabilitation for indigenous youths.

“We acknowledge that local communities and their families have concerns about youth crime,” the Premier said.

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A new five-point action plan will be announced by the State Government today to crackdown on youth crime.

“Where there is crime there must be punishment.

“Criminals – especially young ones – should fear the law.

“It has to be crystal clear to everybody community safety comes first.”

The announcement comes after escalating anger from the community around brazen child criminals causing havoc across Queensland, stealing cars, selling drugs, breaking into homes and taunting police.

Some are even boasting about their exploits on social media, earning the ire of Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll who has complained of a small but persistent group of youth offenders repeatedly breaking the law.

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Police have labelled the recent spate of youth crime in Queensland, in which offenders have boasted online about their crimes, as a “national emergency. Picture: Supplied

Their exploits have led Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers to label youth crime as a “national emergency”, driven by a broken Youth Justice Act that his members want overhauled.

Ms Palaszczuk said her Government’s new plan would include tougher action on bail and police appealing court decisions where appropriate.

Culture-based rehabilitation including On Country initiatives will be trialled in Townsville, Cairns and Mount Isa.

Community-based organisations will be given $2 million to come up with local solutions.

And a unit, dubbed a 24/7 Police Strike Team, would include youth justice workers for high-risk offenders.

The measures are expected to be further explained today.

“These are changes our MPs in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and the Gold Coast have advocated and the government has acted,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Ten community-based action committees will be rolled out in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mount Isa, Toowoomba, Caboolture, Ipswich, Logan, Gold Coast and Brisbane.

And five locations – Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane North, Logan and Rockhampton – will trial a new police/youth justice worker partnership targeting high-risk offenders.

Police Minister Mark Ryan says community safety must come first. Picture: Evan Morgan

Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government had heard the community’s concerns.

“We will go hard core on the hard nut offenders and will ensure that these offenders are held to account and the community is safe,” he said.

“The government’s intention has always been clear and that is community safety must come first and that’s the message we’re reinforcing.”

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the announcement was “more false hope and hollow promises”.

“If Labor was serious, they would change their own laws next week, introduce breach of bail and scrap ‘catch and release’,” she said.

“Labor’s crime crisis hasn’t just happened overnight, this has been building for five years.

She said an LNP would reintroduce breach of bail for juveniles as an offence.

“No more slaps on the wrists, there will be jail time and true consequences for criminal activity under the LNP,” she said.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll. Picture: David Clark

Ms Carroll this week revealed to The Courier-Mail she had set a target to reduce the crime rate by 5 per cent, which she believed was achievable by focusing on demand and preventative measures and by officers focusing on crimes that threaten public safety such as stolen cars, break-ins and assaults.

She said she wanted more police officers on the beat to keep up with a 48 per cent increase in crime call-outs, from 2014-15 to 2018-19

In the 2019 calendar year the crime rate was 10,645 offences per 100,000 people, according to online police figures.