Burnt-out police struggle to keep up with workload on northern Gold Coast as population booms

Numbers released by the Queensland Government reveal what police stations are stretched to their limits. With some police said to be ‘hanging on by the skin of their teeth’.

POLICE on the northern end of the Gold Coast are said to be “hanging on by the skin of their teeth,” with Coomera officers struggling to service an average of 44 calls each per month.

Numbers released by the Queensland Government reveal Coomera officers are dealing with almost double the calls for service of other divisions on the Gold Coast, at a rate of 393 calls per officer over a nine month period.

Gold Coast MP’s Michael Crandon, Trevor Watts and Mark Boothman have called for more police at the overstretched Coomera station. Photo: Supplied.

The Coomera Division, which encompasses the booming suburbs of Pimpama, Helensvale, Oxenford, Upper Coomera and Pacific Pines has been revealed to be the busiest in the region, with one of the fastest growing population areas in Australia.

With just 58 officers, the division received 22,773 calls for service in less than a year, eclipsing larger divisions such as Southport (99 officers) and Surfers Paradise (119 officers) which had 20,887 and 9501 calls respectively.

Senior Constable Kristyn Smith of Coomera Station. Police are using ATVs to crack down on unlicensed and drink driving of golf buggies at Hope Island. Picture: Mike Batterham

Coomera also topped the list when it came to domestic violence incidents with 566 occurring last year. That was substantially more than Southport, which had 392 recorded DV incidents, and Nerang with 226 DV incidents over the same period.

LNP Member for Coomera Michael Crandon said the numbers prove an urgent need for a police boost in the Northern suburbs.

“To my mind it is already a dangerous situation. Our people (police officers) are doing an outstanding job with limited resources, hanging on by the skin of their teeth,” Mr Crandon said.

“There is a massive difference in numbers compared to what other areas are dealing with, that puts them under pressure.”

Member for Coomera Michael Crandon. Picture: AAP/Tim Marsden

Mr Crandon says the Police Commissioner Ian Stewart and the Police Minister Mark Ryan should have responded to the Gold Coast’s population boom much earlier.

“They have the numbers, why has the Minister not called on the Commissioner to catch-up with population growth?” he said.

“We have had 12 schools built in the region in as many years but no additional police

resources in the past five. Something is clearly wrong and something is going to break.”

LNP Member for Theodore Mark Boothman, whose electorate also comes under the Coomera division, said police are close to quitting under pressure.

Police at the scene of a shooting in Roe St, Upper Coomera. Picture: Jerad Williams

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“I have spoken to officers working extremely long hours, working in their own time, then they get told they need to manage their time better,” Mr Boothman said.

“If you look at the number of calls per officer, it is no wonder our police are burning out, and on the edge of quitting.

“There has been a massive growth in population and they have not kept up.”

A spokesman for Police Minister Mark Ryan would not respond to questions, instead referring queries to the Commissioner.

“Decisions about the location and deployment of police officers are at the discretion of the Police Commissioner,” the spokesman said.

State Member for Theodore Mark Boothman

South Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said he is aware of the demand for further officers in Coomera, and had last week permanently reallocated 10 to the division from elsewhere on the Gold Coast.

“This is nothing new, we have been working on this for years. Coomera has been on the rise in recent years so we have been rotating officers from Surfers Paradise to assist in the demand,” he said.

“We work by the numbers we are funded for, we have to operate within the resources we have got.

“Coomera was carrying a really heavy and inequitable workload, but we have seen a 24% increase on police numbers from 12 months ago which is a great start.”

As of April 30, 841 permanent police officers positions exist on the Gold Coast, 517 are allocated to divisions while 324 were placed in additional duties such as Rapid Action patrols, watch houses and crime prevention.