Shocking reason Coast shopping centres are battling a surge in petty crime

Shopping centres across the Gold Coast are falling victim to a surge in petty crime. And there’s a shocking reason why, writes Keith Woods

THERE’S a certain sector of Gold Coast society who are never going to take to online shopping.

A bunch of them were seen indulging in a little retail therapy at one of our busiest shopping centres recently.

A group of youths, clad in hoodies, entered one of the major retailers at Westfield Helensvale. Not many people noticed them as they walked in. But nobody who was there could fail to notice them exit, just minutes later, screaming obscenities at staff as they left.

The group was an example of a “micro-gang”, a term used to describe a small and brazen bunch of thieves who hope that by operating as a group they can overwhelm shop staff and simply walk out with whatever goods they choose.

Police conducting Operation Romeo Luminous at Helensvale in April targeting anti-social behaviour near the train station. Picture: Jerad Williams.

Locals at Helensvale blame the nearby public transport hub for what they believe is a surge in petty crime around Westfield. They mutter about gangs of young people arriving by train from south Brisbane.

They are wrong to think the crime surge is somehow unique to Westfield – it is repeated at every major retail centre on the Gold Coast.

The Queensland police crime map shows Pacific Fair in Broadbeach suffers most, with 994 offences, predominantly theft, recorded in the past year.

In contrast, there were 415 incidents recorded at Helensvale, though adjust the figures according to the size of each centre and it’s fair to conclude that both are equally affected.

The thievery involved has become remarkably brazen.

Only last week a court heard how a woman stole dozens of items from the Kmart store at Pacific Fair. Among the items taken was a $55 suitcase, which she used to help transport her haul.

At this point, one might assume she would have attempted to make her getaway. But no, the woman proceeded to the nearby BigW store, where she attempted to repeat the trick but was finally apprehended.

Pacific Fair has seen a high number of offences recorded. Picture: Tim Marsden.

Last year a court heard how another woman used a pram to steal from seven stores. Among the items she wheeled out the doors was a $500 vacuum cleaner.

The upsurge in such crimes is reflected in overall police statistics. In the 2013-14 financial year, 1398 offences of “shop stealing” were reported in the Gold Coast police district. By the 2017-18 financial year, the last year for which statistics are available, the number had jumped to 2576. That’s an astonishing rise of almost 85 per cent.

It is placing an enormous burden on Gold Coast shop owners already struggling with high rents and fierce competition from online retailers. National chains like BigW and David Jones are also finding the going tough, closing stores and slashing jobs.

BigW is among the major chains struggling. Picture: Jerad Williams.

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The scale of the problem nationwide was revealed in a survey released late last month which estimated that Australian and New Zealand retailers are losing $3.4 billion a year to crime.

That same report, the Australia and New Zealand Retail Crime Survey, contained fascinating insights into why the shoplifting problem is growing so fast.

As part of their research, they study’s authors also spoke to offenders, and what they found was damning.

“Thieves now tell me that it’s easy to get away with petty theft. Reward greatly outweighs the risk,” lead author Dr Emmeline Taylor said.

There is something deeply wrong if the crime of theft is surging because it’s seen as “easy” and “low risk”.

It’s hard to know what would turn the tide, but greater police resources, allowing officers to run regular blitzes of major shopping centres, would be a good starting point.

There needs to be a real chance that a fleeing shoplifter can run into a wall of blue.

Appropriate punishments are harder to imagine. You can’t go locking up everyone who steals a loaf of bread. The amount of jail beds required would be ridiculous. But on the other hand, small fines and “no conviction recorded” are providing little deterrent.

It strikes me that the biggest problem with these kind of offenders is they literally expect everything for nothing. They show no respect for shop staff who, unlike them, turn in for a day’s work.

Some kind of work scheme would surely be most appropriate for the worst offenders. There’s always an outback highway that needs the roadkill cleared, and who better than people skilled at making large items disappear quickly to do the work.