SEQ youth crime: Chilling warning as ex-Army security guard patrols blue-chip Brisbane suburbs
Terrified residents in affluent Brisbane suburbs are forking out thousands a week on a private security guard and his highly-trained dogs to deter ‘out of control’ youth criminals.
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Desperate residents in the blue-chip Brisbane suburb of Chelmer and nearby Graceville and Sherwood are paying thousands of dollars a week for a private security guard and highly trained dogs to deter youth criminals, accusing the government of doing “jack shit”.
Since taking neighbourhood safety into their own hands from mid-November 2023, they say the incidence of crime has dropped by up to 80 per cent.
A young father – who said he set-up the community effort after a Sherwood mother of three had her house broken into allegedly by juveniles wielding machetes – said the government and the courts’ response to youth crime was an “absolute joke”.
“The government is doing jack shit and people are fed up and scared,” he said.
“Once we started this and saw how much was going on, it was like, ‘holy shit, this is out of control’.
It comes as Premier Steven Miles said he wasn’t surprised by alarming findings in a poll commissioned by The Courier-Mail showing 45 per cent of Queenslanders don’t feel safe in their home or community.
“I know what that poll was telling us because I talk to Queenslanders and they have been saying the same thing to me,” Mr Miles said.
But the Sherwood father said it was clear the Premier wasn’t listening.
“The problem is getting worse but it is falling on deaf ears,” he said.
“It’s not the police’s fault, but we are refusing to stick our heads in the sand – only fools believe they won’t eventually become a target of youth crime.
“Every single night and early morning there is something happening, whether it’s groups of kids in dark clothing on foot or cars with lights dimmed and driving slowly scoping places out.”
The man, who has joined some patrols, receives daily reports from Walker Security, run by ex-army reservist Dan Walker, then passes updates to among 30 families each paying up to $100 per week for the service.
Mr Walker travels in a vehicle painted camo-style and with high-vis reflective white signage and spotlights – accompanied by one of three trained protection dogs, Dutch shepherd Xee or Belgian Malinois Mercy and Captain.
His texts include times and sightings such as this, on February 19: 0200: 5 x males in their teens, headed into park after seeing me; and this, on February 18: 2310: sedan turned around and left after seeing me on Laurel Ave.
Mr Walker said the crime statistics didn’t lie.
“Houses were getting broken into left, right and centre but this is now becoming almost non-existent when I’m on duty,” he said.
“My high-vis vehicle lights up the whole countryside and as soon as the teens see it they bugger off – we don’t want to go hands on, we aim to be preventive, but I am more than willing to deal with a situation if it presents itself.
“Hence why I have the dogs, they will bite and hold if they have to.”
In Chelmer, where the median price for a four-bedroom home is $1.95m, figures from the Queensland Police Service online crime map show the number of offences reported in January and February are the lowest since November 2023.
In Graceville and Sherwood, February figures are the lowest compared with any month last year.
The Premier met with his Cabinet in Ipswich on Monday as community calls grow for increased police presence at the Redbank Plains Town Square shopping centre where grandmother Vyleen White was allegedly murdered.
“They have been concerned about community safety, especially concerned in the wake of that awful murder we saw at Redbank Plains just a couple of weeks ago,” Mr Miles said.
“I don’t think those survey results (of The Courier-Mail poll) are surprising.
“You’ll know that we’ve heard that message just by how much we’ve been focused on community safety, how much we’ve been talking about community safety.
“It’s my job to work with the police to rebuild that sense of community safety and that’s absolutely what we’re focused on.”
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Originally published as SEQ youth crime: Chilling warning as ex-Army security guard patrols blue-chip Brisbane suburbs
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