Vandals, chroming, break-ins: A night in Qld’s most crime-riddled town

A Saturday night in the Queensland community with the worst youth crime rate in the state throws a horrifying mix of incidents at the police struggling to keep residents safe. SEE THE FOOTAGE

It’s the kids that Mount Isa police can’t see that they worry about.

When police see groups of teens roaming the streets in the early hours, they treat it as a good sign. But when they’re out of sight, anything could happen.

It’s 11pm on a drizzly Saturday night in the small Queensland town with the worst youth crime rate in the state and there’s only a few groups of kids around, one who flips the bird and hits the police car window while driving around.

One car is already off the road after being vandalised by kids with sunscreen, and during the ride-along a woman would run up to a police car after waking up to a teenager in her bedroom.

Acting sergeant Jemma Grant. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mount Isa Acting Sergeant Jemma Grant meets us at the station and we load into her police vehicle as jobs flash up on her screen ready for the night ahead.

Sergeant Grant has been in Isa for two years and bought a house, like many others who thought their regional stint would be temporary.

She knows the problems and the people well, recognising them by name or face at jobs.

Sergeant Grant says there had been a slump in offending lately as ring leaders were locked up in detention centres.

A group of youth roaming the streets at 12:30am in Mount Isa. Picture: Liam Kidston

They hadn’t had a stolen car in two weeks - something unheard of in the crime-riddled town.

A group of four kids are spotted walking down a low-lit street in hoodies and Sergeant Grant pulls over, breaking the barrier and asking them what they were up to. She does this a lot during her shift.

She knows one of the boys, whose jumper is baggy on his tiny, thin body, who she says has been in some stolen cars before. This time, the boy is not on bail.

At the appearance of a camera, it clicks to one of the girls who we are and she lashes out, hitting the passenger-side window before walking off and flipping the bird.

In Isa, there’s about 30 repeat juvenile offenders. A lot of them live in care houses or come from broken homes.

Police assisting a DV victim in Mount Isa. Picture: Liam Kidston

In most cases, the kids are high when committing the crime or arrested.

Chroming is the drug of choice and a huge problem they battle with. The aerosol cans are locked up in supermarkets, but recently a group of girls stole the master key at one shop and had a field day.

Youths crash a stolen car into a light pole, Mt Isa.

A few minutes later, another crew found two of the girls who vandalised their police vehicle.

Sergeant Grant advises the crews to take the girls home, questioning what good throwing them in a watch house would be. She admits it’s hard to make those decisions sometimes.

In the early hours, a woman runs up to the car that has just been broken into and woke with a figure standing over her.

The thief, who she thought was maybe 14 or 15, stole her phone, and she stumbled across the police vehicle as she ran for help.

“I just jumped and screamed ‘get out of my house’,” she told Sergeant Grant.

The gaps in the night were filled with domestic violence, and the police dedication to both issues were obvious.

Originally published as Vandals, chroming, break-ins: A night in Qld’s most crime-riddled town