How pandemic has impacted Toowoomba crime

THE coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on many parts of life around the Garden City and crime is no different.

THE coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on many parts of life around the Garden City and crime is no different.

Since government directives came into play last month, Toowoomba City Patrol Group Inspector Paul James said there had been some noticeable changes around town.

"Over the last couple of weeks there has been a decrease in break and enters, it's fair to say a substantial decrease," Inspector James said.

"Where houses are unattended, those places getting broken into has dropped off, and assaults are also down substantially.

"We believe this could be because of a combination of things; it's a lock down so there are more people at home, but it also means that people who are moving around are more obvious to police."

Another thing the pandemic has impacted is road accidents.

"(Over Easter) we had no road fatalities for our police district - there weren't many people on the roads," Inspector James said.

"It's a one off for most of us, I've been in the police for 30 years and haven't seen something like this before."

He said there were still cases of sneak offences, referring to break ins with people at home.

"We ask people to be vigilant, there is a class of criminals where sneak breaks are their forte," he said.

University of Southern Queensland criminology program director and senior lecturer Suzanne Reich said the pandemic's impact would vary based on the crime.

"There are two domains in which crime occurs; the public and private domains," Mrs Reich said.

"Currently our public spaces have essentially shut down, which means people don't have the opportunity to commit a crime in those public spaces.

"The pandemic will increase other kinds of crime and typically they are the ones happening in a private domain."

She said while it was likely opportunistic crimes such as break-ins and car theft would drop, residents at home could be susceptible to other types of criminal activity.

"Change in life events might also cause strain and increase somebody's risk of being volatile, not only resulting in domestic violence and child abuse but also other crimes such as Centrelink fraud," she said.

"Cybercrime is definitely something at risk of increasing, again because people are confined to private domains but also because vulnerable people, such as the elderly, are in a state of isolation.

"These are the other types of crime that we'll see because people are spending more time on their computers at home."

She said only time would tell whether the pandemic would have long-term impacts on crime levels around Toowoomba.

"I wonder what these prolonged living conditions will do to people's sense of rebellion and what will it look like?

"It's all going to depend on how people react to this," she said.

She added it was important for people to keep an eye out for their neighbours.

"At a time like this, we can't give into the bystander affect," she said.

"If you suspect someone is in trouble, you need to act in someway - even if that is calling the police."