Task force ramps up to tackle Townsville youth crime

The new commander of Queensland’s youth crime task force is taking stock of what’s been working on the ground in NQ as he prepares to overhaul it after two years.

Commander of the QPS Youth Crime Taskforce Acting Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini in Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

The new commander of Queensland’s youth crime task force is taking stock of what’s been working on the ground with kids in Townsville as he prepares to revamp it after two years.

Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini has touched down in Townsville fresh on the heels of taking the task force’s helm from Cheryl Scanlon who has helped establish it since 2021.

Mr Marchesini said he wanted to build on the multi-agency approach the task force already had in place while looking at other areas they could improve on.

He spent most of his time in Townsville on Thursday meeting with senior police, council and members of the city’s youth co-responder team to get a better feel of what was happening on the ground.

“What I’ll really hone in on is, how are we actually working?” he said.

Commander of the QPS Youth Crime Taskforce Acting Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini in Townsville with Acting Chef Superintendent Chris Lawson. Picture: Evan Morgan

“How are we focused on those particular groups of children we’re responding to at the moment? Where are the gaps? How can we improve?”

Mr Marchesini said that while there had been a decline in overall youth offenders, a small cohort of repeat offenders was responsible for multiple offences.

“We’re certainly focused on a particular cohort of children whereas previously, we knew what that cohort was, but we probably weren’t working as effectively across our different partner agencies,” he said.

He also said “there were avenues” to bring in additional support for Townsville officers when they are dealing with a spike in youth crime when required.

“We work on an intelligence based response and evidence-based response targeting those hot spots right across the state,” he said.

Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson said all police officers in the Townsville district would be involved “in some way” to ensure the objectives of the youth justice task force are met.

He said initiatives like Townsville’s youth co-responder teams and school support officers looking at early intervention in primary schools were already making an impact.

Supt Lawson was grilled on how many Townsville youths were being held in police watch houses for longer periods due to detention centres being full.

“We keep a lookout for the number of young people we have in our watch house on a daily basis,” he said.

“I work very closely with our regional director of youth justice.

“We talk about how we can make the conditions for the young people that are kept in watch house better.

“Obviously, with the increase in offending, we see increasing people being held in custody.

“So while we’re doing our job, we need to make sure that these children are being kept in the watch house to provide that community safety level across the district as well.”

Originally published as Task force ramps up to tackle Townsville youth crime