Taskforce Guardian lays 94 charges against 28 Far North youth offenders in eight days

Far North police officers dished out almost 100 charges to alleged youth offenders during an eight-day crack down on property crime.

Far North police officers have handed out almost 100 charges to alleged youth offenders during an eight-day crack down on property crime.

Taskforce Guardian patrolled Cairns from January 15 to January 23, arresting 30 people.

“We had a real surge targeting youth crime in the greater Cairns area,” Detective Acting Inspector Jason Chetham said.

“As a result there were 30 people charged across that period – 28 of them were young people (who received) 94 charges. Most of those were property related charges: unlawful use of motor vehicles, break-and-enter, stealing and breach of bail.”

Detective Acting Inspector Jason Chetham said 30 people were arrested while Taskforce Guardian was in Cairns in January. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Chetham said the operation responded to complaints of property crime and worked to prevent future incidents.

“Taskforce Guardian is more than just law enforcement, it also has staff form youth justice there which enables it to have quick engagement with young people who are brought before the courts … we talk to them about engagement with positive programs, we talk with them about how they can comply with their bail conditions,” he said.

“So it’s more than just enforcement; we try to keep young people out of the system where we can and give them a chance to succeed.”

Mr Chetham said the local police watch-house had been near full capacity, which added challenges when remanding offenders in custody.

Queensland Police Service detectives and expert Youth Justice workers have travelled to Cairns to support local police in disrupting youth offending through Taskforce Guardian multiple times in 12 months. Picture: Queensland Police

“It’s a difficult one … if people are remanded in custody we just make sure we have enough staff on so we can cope with it the best we can,” he said.

“We also work closely with Youth Justice and other NGOs … to meet with young people (in the watch-house) and talk about their needs so we can fulfil them the best we can, might they be health or social needs. It can be a difficult period for them.”

Mr Chetham said most property crime offenders were opportunists who had tried to snatch wallets and car keys through smash-and-grab techniques.

“It’s still very unsophisticated. We don’t see a lot of damage other than at the point of entry,” he said.

“Community safety is our focus. If the community can take some steps to secure their property, such as putting car keys and wallets in discrete locations, we have found it does make it a lot more difficult for offenders who want to be in and out (of a property) very quickly.”

Originally published as Taskforce Guardian lays 94 charges against 28 Far North youth offenders in eight days