Queensland Election 2017: LNP promises to scrap no-pursuit policy
SCRAPPING the police no-pursuit policy will be trialled and a new copper chopper will be bought for North Queensland under a suite of tough-on-crime commitments from the LNP today.
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SCRAPPING the police no-pursuit policy will be trialled in Townsville and a new copper chopper for North Queensland will be bought, under a suite of tough-on-crime commitments from the LNP today.
Opposition leader Tim Nicholls this morning revealed there will be a six-month trial in Townsville allowing police to determine whether or not to enter a high speed pursuit.
If successful it would be could be rolled out to more areas or even state wide.
He also promised to fully fund a police helicopter for four years to be shared between Cairns and Townsville and a suite of tougher laws.
It follows his announcement this morning of a curfew for children under 16 to be trialled for six months in Townsville where juvenile crime has worsened.
The helicopter will cost $10 million over four years and will include a Forward Looking Infrared Camera.
The new laws include reintroducing “breach of bail” as an offence for young people, allowing courts to name and shame young people on their third offence, removing the principal of “detention as last resort” for juveniles on their second offence and giving courts the power to restrict a young person’s licence if they’re convicted of car theft or hooning offences.
Mr Nicholls said he had heard stories of youths arrested for hooning doing burn outs in police car parks and driving off knowing they would not be chased.
“We trust our police to exercise lethal force, we trust them with a taser, we should be able to trust them to exercise their judgment when it comes to a pursuit policy,” he said.
The current policy states pursuits are “inherently dangerous” and should only be undertaken if the suspect fleeing is an “imminent threat to life” or threatened murder or other serious crime.
Queensland Police Union boss Ian Leavers earlier this year called for that policy to be scrapped and for police to be given discretion to make the call.
QPS data shows police were recording 110 drive offs per week between March 2016 and April 2017.
There was a 29 per cent increase in drive offs, from 4554 in a year to 5871 in a year, over that time as drivers tool advantage of the policy.
But the current policy was introduced on the recommendation of a coroner following a spate of fatal crashes.
Meanwhile a police helicopter for North Queensland would be the third QPS chopper, after the Newman Government granted the Gold Coast one in 2012.
Mr Nicholls said the LNP introduced a police helicopter for southeast Queensland, but it was not extended to further regions.
“It’s denying the people of Townsville and north Queensland proper protection from these thugs and crims who are out on the street everyday,” he said.
He said the helicopter could be used on conjunction with the police pursuit policy.
“It will allow the eye in the sky to be able to direct police to where the cars are, that will make it safer, but it will also allow police to pursue young hoons and young thugs and apprehend them,” Mr Nicholls said.
He defended the youth curfew policy and links to the parents welfare payments, saying their needed to be parental responsibility
“I will tell you what is lazy, Labor’s attitude to crime is lazy,” he said.
“If they don’t do the crime there won’t be a problem.”
Originally published as Queensland Election 2017: LNP promises to scrap no-pursuit policy
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