Latest ACT Policing data reveals spike in burglaries, property damage

Latest data from ACT Police reveals a jump in burglaries and property damage at Gungahlin, sparking calls for a new police station and more frontline officers.

• Comanchero charged with money laundering
• A chance to touch a piece of the moon
• Construction to start on Geocon city development
• Charge dropped against husband who helped wife die

A spike in crime and the skyrocketing population is fuelling calls for a new police station and more frontline officers in the Gungahlin command.

Latest ACT Policing data shows there has been 54 reports of property damage in the six months to June 30, up from 29 and 37 in the first and second half of 2018, respectively.

There were 23 burglaries in first half of this year, almost on par with the 29 recorded for the whole of last year.

Police are seeking witnesses, CCTV and dashcam footage of recent ram raids and aggravated burglaries in Forde and Ngunnawal.

Ngunnawal IGA co-owner Vicki Neou said they are still waiting for their insurance to be approved after thieves did $50,000 to $70,000 of damage during a ram raid of their family business on June 24.

Ngunnawal IGA co-owner Vicki Neou is angry after thieves caused more than $50,000 damage to her business for eight bottles of vodka.

Their cigarette and liquor cabinets, doors, ceiling and registers all suffered extensive damage — all for eight bottles of vodka.

“I’m angry and frustrated they did so much damage just for a few bottles of vodka,” Ms Neou said.

“I’m concerned about growing crime in the area and I think there needs to be more patrols around the local shops in the early hours of the morning.”

Police were again called to the Ngunnawal shops on July 4 about 5.30am following reports two offenders in a Toyota Prado had forced entry into a shop and stolen money.

In a separate incident, police were called to the Forde shops around 6.10am following reports offenders had caused significant damage and stolen money.

Australian Federal Police Association president Angela Smith says Gungahlin needs a new police station and more frontline officers.

Australian Federal Police Association president Angela Smith said Gungahlin needed a new police station, given the district was projected to be the ACT’s second most populated behind Belconnen.

“The station was probably suitable back in 2006 when 31,000 residents resided in the Gungahlin district, but that figure grew to 71,142 residents in 2016 and will grow to 83,000 by 2020,” she said.

“Gungahlin station is a good example of a lack of resources and funding for police in the ACT.

“There is a myriad of issues with the station that needs addressing, and to be honest, I don’t think they can be addressed within the current building.

“Even if more police officers were sent to Gungahlin, the station physically can’t fit them in.

“There isn’t the floor space or infrastructure to support more police officers in that building.”

The police, ACT Ambulance and Fire Brigade are all crammed onto one site in Gungahlin.

Shadow police minister Giulia Jones said the police station had outgrown its premises which it shares with ambulance officers and firefighters in Canberra’s only joint emergency services centre.

“At least one of them needs to move out and we need a new facility,” Ms Jones said.

“The police station is not fit-for-purpose and officers are treated like the Uber-trades people of the Government.

“There no break out or lunch room for them to decompress which you need to prevent post traumatic stress disorder and burnout.

“The toilets are in earshot of the rest of the team.

“There is little to no capacity for officers to conduct soft interviewing of victims of domestic and sexual violence.”

Ms Smith and Ms Jones called for the ACT Government to say how many of the 69 new police staff would be frontline officers.

Local resident and Gungahlin Community Council member Luke Hadfield said police were doing the best they could but needed more support from the Government.

There has been an increase in burglaries and property damage in Gungahlin.

“The recent spike in crime in the area is very frightening, especially as Gungahlin is a base for many young families,” he said.

“It is not uncommon to see a spike in things like vandalism during school holidays but the recent ram raids and robberies makes me wonder if active criminals are getting a foothold in our community.

“Gungahlin is growing rapidly and we need a sizeable police force to match.”

Police minister Mick Gentleman said the chief police officer would decide how to deploy the new staff but expected “the majority” would be “sworn, operational officers”.

When asked whether the Government was looking at the possibility of creating a new fit for purpose Gunghalin police station, he said: “We are working with ACT Policing to plan for the future needs of our police service and growing community.”

“Our $33.9 million commitment through the 2019-20 ACT Budget is the single largest investment in ACT Policing this decade.

“The ACT experiences low crime rates compared to other jurisdictions and rates have been relatively stable over the last decade.”

Thieves damaged the cigarette and liquor cabinet at Ngunnawal IGA after using a vehicle to gain entry to the store.

ACT Police would not confirm or deny that there is only ever one patrol car out at a time in Gungahlin compared to two in Belconnen.

A spokesman said: “For operational reasons, we do not comment on the deployment of officers to individual police stations in the ACT.”

The new staff would be rolled out in stages over four years and the break down of sworn and professional staff is yet to be finalised.

“However, the vast majority will be in operational roles,” he said.

“There will be particular specialist skills to be recruited which do not require sworn police powers, such as intelligence officers.”

Neighbourhood Watch north side vice president Clare McGrath said they were organising a community meeting on July 25 at Moncrieff with the time and location to be confirmed.

“We are going to have a discussion about what seems to be an increase in crime in the area and it’s a known fact that we need more police in the ACT,” Ms McGrath said.

“In the meantime we need to rely on the community to be the eyes for police.

We just want people to be more vigilant and phone Crime Stoppers if they see anything suspicious.”