Crime downturn: Data shows Townsville car thefts, break-in offences falling

Despite a series of shocking and violent crime waves over the past six months, Townsville has still recorded a notable decrease with car thefts and break-ins falling by 19 and 31 per cent respectively. See the breakdown here.

Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski says youth offending across the state has fallen in the last financial year.

Despite a series of shocking and violent crime waves over the past six months, Townsville has still recorded a notable decrease in car thefts and break-ins, according to latest data.

The latest crime statistics from the Queensland Police Service reveal a 19.7 per cent reduction in car thefts and a 31.2 per cent drop in break-ins when comparing the first six months of 2024 to 2023.

The figures show that car thefts in Townsville fell from 892 in the first half of 2023 to 716 in the same period in 2024.

Even with youths embarking on days-long crime sprees last month, the number of car thefts actually declined slightly, dropping from 125 offences in May to 114 in June.

Similarly, unlawful entry offences have seen a significant decrease, with 1,880 recorded between January and June 2024, down from 2,732 in the same period in 2023.

This marks a 31.1 per cent reduction.

However, there was a slight up-tick in unlawful entries last month, rising from 323 in May to 344 in June.

It comes Taskforce Guardian, alongside local police, recently charged 24 young people with 89 offences and diverted nine young people from the youth justice system during a week-long saturation strategy in Townsville.

From 15 to 22 July, specialist police officers and expert youth justice officers conducted high-visibility patrols of hotspots, provided bail compliance support, assisted in finalising investigations, engaged with young people, and targeted active high-risk offending.

Of the 89 offences, 25 were related to the unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and nine were break and enters.

Townsville District Officer Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson praised the collaboration.

“We are grateful for the support of Taskforce Guardian in assisting local police in tracking down and apprehending offenders to keep the community safe,” he said.

“Working with youth justice staff also allows our officers to engage with young people in an effort to foster a positive rapport on the road to crime prevention while providing appropriate support services that focus on the health and education of our young people at risk.”

It comes after Premier Steven Miles and Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski recently highlighted a statewide drop in youth offences, which fell by 6.7 per cent over the last financial year.

“My priority is keeping the community safe and helping them feel safe, and the QPS will continue to adapt our approaches to respond to crime in Queensland,” Commissioner Gollschewski said.

“I acknowledge the significant impact of domestic and family violence and the corresponding affect it has on overall criminal offences committed in our community.

“We will continue to target high harm offending in the community through specific deployments such as Operation Whiskey Legion and Taskforce Guardian.”

Originally published as Crime downturn: Data shows Townsville car thefts, break-in offences falling