Operation Whiskey Legion: Gold Coast police sent to Logan and Ipswich

Dozens of police are being sent from the Gold Coast to crime hot spots in Ipswich and Logan in a move senior officers say will benefit the Glitter Strip.

Dozens of Gold Coast police are being drafted to crime hotspots in Logan and Ipswich in a bid to clamp down on offenders who target the city.

Between 20 and 30 officers per day are being sent from the Gold Coast to take part in the Operation Whiskey Legion operation, which began on Tuesday.

Among those deployed are Rapid Action Patrol (RAP) squad members, plain clothes officers and specialist detectives.

The operation is being undertaken to snuff out offending at the source, with statistics showing almost half of crimes on the Gold Coast are undertaken by people who live outside the area.

“It’s a proactive approach because we know 44 per cent of our crime is committed by offenders who don’t live in this district,” Superintendent Peter Miles said.

“So we’re sending up some of our staff. If they take care of the business up in Logan or Ipswich, wherever they end up, we know that that offending won’t happen on the Gold Coast.”

Police officers taking part in Operation Whiskey Legion pictured in Ipswich on Tuesday. Picture: QPS.

Supt Miles said Operation Whiskey Legion officers had been set clear targets to go after some of the most high risk offenders.

“We’ve got a number of targets, high risk, high harm offending that’s going on, so we’re picking the worst of the worst, and we’re going to be taking them out and putting them before the courts,” he said.

“We’ll also target hot spot areas. If there’s a particular area where we’ve no idea who’s actually committing that crime, we’ll saturate that area.”

It is expected Operation Whiskey Legion operation will be deployed to other parts of the state after its initial 10-day stint in Logan and Ipswich.

Police officers taking part in Operation Whiskey Legion pictured in Ipswich on Tuesday. Picture: QPS.

It comes after official police statistics showed more than 50,000 offences were committed every month in Queensland last year.

Acting Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police were determined to drive those numbers down.

“We will continue tackling crime from all angles to ensure the community is safe and feels safe,” he said.

“Communities can expect to see a surge of police in their area as part of rolling operation deployments in hot spots across Queensland.”

Premier Steven Miles said every Queenslander “deserves to be safe and feel safe”.

“That sense of safety is heightened when people see police on the beat, working to protect them,” he said.

“Operation Whiskey Legion will supercharge high visibility policing work in communities across the state, which we know is paying dividends.”

Supt Miles said the investment of resources from the Gold Coast district into the operation would benefit the city in the long term.

“It’s a proactive approach,” he said. “We know that (by taking part) we will stop offending taking place on the Gold Coast. We see it as bang for buck.”

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