Cairns youth crime reducing after Operation Uniform Theta gets into full swing

Far North police say a Christmas holiday crime crackdown is already putting downward pressure on stolen car rates and property crime.

Far North police say a Christmas holiday crime crackdown is already putting downward pressure on stolen car rates.

Detective Inspector Kevin Goan said that off the back of a major boost in policing hours as a result of Operation Uniform Theta - a festive season police blitz against juvenile crime - there had been a “reduction” in stolen cars over the Christmas period.

Police said 11 cars were stolen over the weekend and 27 over the course of the week, a 21 per cent reduction compared to the previous seven days.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler visited Cairns to announce the new Operation Uniform Theta, which will primarily focus on extra high-visibility officer patrols in intelligence driven locations, including public spaces and residential areas. Picture: Alison Paterson

Operation Uniform Theta, which was announced by Police Minister Mark Ryan and Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler on December 19, involves the deployment of high-visibility officer patrols in “intelligence-driven locations” including public spaces and residential areas, in conjunction with other strategies like youth engagement activities, an expansion of the Youth Crime Co-responder and bail check programs.

It will run until the end of the school holidays and in the Far North involves an extra 3000 policing hours spread across 400 overtime shifts.

“It’s all about putting officers in the right spots at the right times,” Insp Goan said.

“We monitor it twice daily to see when crime is often occurring and we put the officers there at the hot spots at those times.

A stolen Nissan Navara was found dumped in bushes at Caravonica. Picture: Facebook

But the joy of Christmas didn’t stop thieves from striking an an elderly Mooroobool couple’s home in the middle of the night on Sunday, stealing two of their cars.

The Mooroobool pensioner said thieves sneaked into his home while he and his wife slept on Sunday night.

He said the thieves silently broke through their front door, took the keys to both their cars, pushed them out of the driveway and then drove off.

Residents were left fuming as they once again turned to social media to track stolen cars as they traversed the city.

Cairns’ car theft epidemic hit a new record in August, surpassing the previous year’s tally of 782 vehicles.

Over the intervening four months, that figure has trended ever higher, with the most recent official tally clocking 1265 thefts.

Originally published as Cairns youth crime reducing after Operation Uniform Theta gets into full swing