Shopping centres are getting more violent - here’s what we can do

Gold Coast shopping centres are getting more violent, and staff suffering from regular harassment. But there is a way we can fight back, writes criminology expert Dr Tyler Cawthray.

The security of customers and staff in the Gold Coast’s biggest shopping centres are under focus following an incident by a knife-wielding man in Pacific Fair last Saturday.

The man threatened staff at two stores inside the Broadbeach Waters centre as they were forced to hunker down and lock their doors.

Thankfully this incident was resolved by Queensland Police officers who arrested a 34-year-old man.

Sadly, this is not the first, nor will it be the last, such incident in an Australian shopping centre impacting on the shopping public.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, some 1587 children were charged over weapons and explosives in the 2023-24 financial year – a 43 per cent spike since 2022.

Threats, aggression and violence have become all too common occurrences for retail staff and members of the public in our shopping centres.

A 2023 survey conducted by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association found 87 per cent of workers had experienced a form of verbal abuse, and 12.5 per cent had experienced physical violence from customers.

Some 52 per cent of the surveyed workers reported that offending customers were repeat offenders, so they had seen them on more than one occasion.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, some 1587 children were charged over weapons and explosives in the 2023-24 financial year. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

There is a growing problem we need to stop.

In Queensland the laws require retailers to securely store particular items such as double-edged knives, machetes, tomahawks and axes.

The laws signify a major step towards helping reduce weapon accessibility among young people and advancing the fight against knife crime.

On the Gold Coast, our three biggest shopping centres are crime hot spots.

Pacific Fair is the second largest crime hotspot in the Broadbeach police district with 501 crime incidents recorded in the past six months until March 17, representing over 30 per cent of crime in the district. 386 of these were theft offences.

Dr Tyler Cawthray is Assistant Professor of Criminology at Bond University.

Robina Shopping Town is the largest crime hotspot in the Robina police district with 331 crime incidents in the last six months accounting for almost a quarter of reported crime in the district. 222 of these were theft offences.

Harbour Town is the largest crime hotspot in the Runaway Bay police district with 244 crime incidents reported in the last six months, 22 per cent of crime in the district – 113 of these were theft offences.

I think you get the theme – shopping centres attract crime.

The recent Queensland Government announcement of an additional $31.1 million in funding for high visibility policing operations in crime hotspots, including shopping centres, is welcome news.

As is the record graduation of 155 Queensland Police Officers from the state police academy this week.

However late last year Steve Gollschewski, former Queensland Police Commissioner, stated frontline police were red-lining and overworked.

So, what else could we do to help frontline police and retailers manage anti-social behaviour and violence in Queensland shopping centres?

Victoria’s policing experience offers a path forward with the use of Protective Services Officers (PSOs).

These PSOs have legal powers to search, fine, move on and arrest individuals engaged in breaking the law at “designated places”.

They are equipped with police tools like firearms and capsicum spray and receive 12 weeks of training at the police academy followed by additional on the job training.

These capabilities stand in stark comparison to that of private security guards who often receive very little training, have no specific legal powers, and carry limited equipment.

Yet they are still expected to respond to and resolve anti-social behaviour or crime incidents in progress within locations like shopping centres.

Protective Services Officers graduate at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley. Picture Lawrence Pinder

This can be a dangerous recipe as was demonstrated in Bendigo in Victoria early this month when a security guard was assaulted by a group of youth offenders.

For over a decade Victoria police have deployed PSOs to the state’s transit system, in and around train stations.

The Victoria Auditor General found in a 2015 report that perceptions of safety had improved on the Melbourne train system after the deployment of PSOs in 2011.

In 2020 legislation was passed in Victoria that allowed PSOs to be deployed to other locations including to support major public events and shopping centres – a move supported by the Shopping Centre Council of Australia.

Shopping centres are major gathering points for the community so allocating resources to ensure the safety and security of the staff and the shopping public is a sound investment.

On a positive note, PSOs could also help fill the gap in Queensland policing by providing a uniformed presence at shopping centres with the legal powers to back it up.

Queensland now has its first PSOs who can provide security services to government buildings, courts, and schools, with the first of six intakes scheduled for 2025 graduating after a seven-week training program at the QPS Academy in Brisbane.

They could also staff the shopping centre police beats that have been closed, or are intermittently staffed, because of other police operational demands.

These officers would complement Queensland Police capabilities, conducting hotspot policing and offering flexibility in managing shopping centre crime.

PSOs can help the extend police presence and help officers consistently be where it counts.

Dr Tyler Cawthray is Assistant Professor of Criminology, Bond University, Gold Coast, and has conducted research in the fields of criminology, policing, police legitimacy, police reform, police ethics, police integrity management and accountability, state building and post-conflict rule of law reform.

Originally published as Shopping centres are getting more violent - here’s what we can do