Gold Coast crime statistics under investigation after complaints figures manipulated to reflect lower rates
GOLD Coast crime statistics are under investigation after senior officers lodged complaints alleging figures had been manipulated to reflect lower crime rates.
Crime and Court
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GOLD Coast crime statistics are under investigation after senior officers alleged figures have been fudged.
Police Minister Mark Ryan says Police Commissioner Ian Stewart advised him of an audit office review into whether crime reports were manipulated to give false perceptions about crime rates.
“The commissioner has given me assurances that the Queensland Police Service will work with the Queensland Audit Office to get to the bottom of this matter,” Mr Ryan told the ABC.
The ABC says it’s been told two police crime managers on the Gold Coast have raised concerns that legitimate crime reports have been labelled “unfounded” in an effort to keep offences off the books.
The broadcaster said the managers took their concerns to the audit office only after telling a superior, who did nothing about it.
The minister said Queenslanders must be able to have faith in crime statistics. “I expect the highest standards to be met and maintained by the Queensland Police Service from the top of the organisation down,” Mr Ryan said.
The latest crime figures reveal the rates of assault, fraud, robbery and unlawful entry on the Gold Coast in 2016 rose from the year before.
Bond University criminologist Terry Goldsworthy told the Gold Coast Bulletin the coast’s crime rate had risen by 17 per cent in the past two years.
The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) confirmed to the ABC it is conducting a, “performance audit to assess how well the [Queensland Police Service and the Department of Justice and Attorney-General] capture, report and use crime and justice data”.
The QAO said it could not provide any further details until its report was tabled in the State Parliament, which is expected to be in March.
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