Less cops, more crime: Police positions secretly slashed.

Police positions across the southern Gold Coast have fallen to their lowest level in more than 13 years. FIND OUT WHY.

Secret cuts to cops: Police positions vanish from the Southern Gold Coast.

Six approved officer positions have vanished from the Palm Beach police district leaving the crime-ridden southern Coast with its lowest resources in more than 13 years, it can be revealed.

Just 32 officers are allocated to cover Palm Beach Station and the Elanora police beat.

The Palm Beach area had 37 positions allocated to it in 2010 and reached 38 officers in 2017.

This district covers approximately 50 square kilometres from Christine Avenue in Miami to south of Currumbin Creek and West to Tallebudgera Valley, it also services parts of Burleigh Heads, with a ratio of roughly one police position to more than 1550 people.

A Bulletin special investigation, on resources and offending, found some crimes had increased by 350 per cent across the Coast’s south in the past decade, all the while staffing levels were being cut.

A police source said: “On some shifts they do not have enough staff to put a car out on the road.”

The source added that it was critical to realise the 32 approved positions did not represent the number of police on the beat.

“That’s the approved strength – but you have police on sick leave, on recreational leave, on long service and restricted duties. You could have only 50 per cent of your staff,” the source said.

State parliament has been told the division was allocated an additional officer in 2017 but the following year five officers were removed from Palm Beach.

In June 2021, another officer position disappeared.

The 32 remaining positions include a senior sergeant heading up the division and two sergeants working as shift supervisors, two senior constables are allocated to the Elanora Police Beat and 25 constables covering general duties.

There were two administrative staffers and a cleaner.

Worse still, the data points to the six staffers previously based at Palm Beach not being redeployed to protect other areas of the southern Coast.

Data released last year shows Mudgeeraba hasn’t had any increase to police resources since 2010, with just 22 approved police positions.

Coolangatta divisions has also faced the chopping block, with 34 police positions, that’s down two staff since 2017, and the same staffing level allocated to the region in 2010.

The cuts are in stark contrast to Queensland Police Service crime data which shows demand on resources has spiked.

Domestic violence related offences across the three policing divisions of Coolangatta, Palm Beach and Musdgeeraba have increased a staggering 348 per cent between 2010 and 2022, up from 128 to 574 annual offences.

Assaults are up more than 120 per cent in that time frame, sexual offences have increased by more than 74 per cent, while the number of stolen vehicle related charges has nearly doubled.

Police Minister Mark Ryan, in responding to Questions on Notice by Opposition Burleigh MP Michael Hart, defended the cuts to police staffing across the southern suburbs.

Mr Ryan told parliament the numbers were “divisional only” and did not include more than 1000 officers allocated to duties across the Coast police districts.

The allocation of police resources was a matter for the Police Commissioner based on “operational policing demand and direct service delivery requirements” to ensure a fair result.

“I am advised these requirements can change as new policing issues emerge,” Mr Ryan said.

But Dr Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice and Criminology at Bond University, doubts police can fill the roster gaps and predicts staffing numbers will get worse.

“The crime rate has increased again this year and this is contributing to the current crime crisis that Queensland is facing,” Dr Goldsworthy said.

“Having insufficient police staff to meet calls for service just compounds the crime issues.”

Dr Goldsworthy said the latest Working for Queensland survey showed 30 per cent of police indicated that they wanted to leave within the next 12 months.

Another 25 per cent of staffers flagged that they were going to leave within two years.

“The reasons for this is a lack of satisfaction with the job they are doing and failings of senior leadership,” he said.

Bond University Associate Professor Dr Terry Goldsworthy fears staffing numbers will get worse as amid rising crime and lack of leadership. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

The Gold Coast Bulletin asked Minister Ryan whether he supported the cuts to police resources on the southern Gold Coast and whether he was concerned about the increase an crime following the move.

In a statement he reiterated that staffing decisions at individual stations were determined by QPS and not by politicians.

“There are more than 1100 police working on the Gold Coast to keep the community safe. An increase of over 100 since 2015,” he said.

“More overtime hours have been dedicated to enhanced and additional high-visibility patrols on the Gold Coast, which have resulted in more than 250 offenders being charged with over 450 offences”.

In March this year the Bulletin revealed the Coast’s busiest police station at Southport – confronted with youth gang crime, drug use fallout and homelessness – was often operating at half strength at night, putting officers in danger.

An internal Queensland Police Service report warned the central policing district could not keep pace with city population growth and increasing demand for call-outs.

The QPS Strategic Review found demands on the police service had increased by 48 per cent since the 2014-15 financial year.

The internal report also concluded the “entertainment precinct group” which includes Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach “appears to be well resourced when considering demands”.

Police and Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan says cuts to cops are decided by Queensland Police Service. Picture: Glen Campbell

The report found Palm Beach and Robina-Varsity Lakes are among the top six Coast suburbs predicted to be heavily impacted by population growth. The others are Southport and those in the fast growing north including Pimpama and Coomera.

The police report is backed by Gold Coast City Council’s own modelling which predicts a southern population boom.

The next 10 years will see Palm Beach’s population increase from 15,200 to 23,715 an increase of 56 per cent, adding further pressure on police resources that are already under strain.