Youth crime, disaster response ranks high on list of priorities for new Darling Downs Superintendent

The Darling Down’s new top cop said strong partnerships with community groups, elected officials and social workers are key to reducing crime and making our towns and cities safer.

Strong partnerships with community groups, elected officials and social workers are key to reducing crime and making our towns and cities safer according to the Darling Downs District’s newly appointed Superintendent Doug McDonald.

Supt McDonald was promoted to the position in late 2022 having previously served as the Ipswich Patrol Group Inspector, Regional Operations Manager in the State Intelligence Group and on counter terrorism operations during the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Since taking up the Darling Downs post he has been meeting with community leaders across the district, which stretches from Goondiwindi to Gatton and Kingaroy, to hear their concerns and develop new strategies.

“Youth justice is an issue that gets a lot of attention,” Supt McDonald said.

“It is certainly a concern of the community from what I have seen and heard and it is not unreasonable that the community have those concerns.

“It’s a challenge we have right across the state.”

Darling Downs Superintendent Doug McDonald.

Already he has sat down with Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio and Police Minister Mark Ryan to talk about youth crime.

Local police will increasingly call on the expertise and support from community groups and social services to support the families of young offenders.

The strategy will be backed up by a newly appointed Assistant Commissioner for Youth Justice along with traditional crime prevention and enforcement activities.

“It is not one of those things that you can just arrest your way out of,” Supt McDonald said.

“We are talking about generational issues here and the enduring trauma for some of these kids who are out in acts of criminality.

“It is about working with partner agencies to intervene before kids hit the justice system.”

The new role will see Supt McDonald run the police response to natural disasters.

It is something the veteran copper has extensive experience with in the Darling Down having served as the Police Forward Commander during the 2011 floods in Toowoomba and later supporting the search and recovery effort in the Lockyer Valley.

More recently he was involved with police response to the 2019 bush fire in the Scenic Rim. “It is very obvious that the severity and frequency of disasters has changed dramatically,” Supt McDonald said.

“We are moving into a phase where bushfires are becoming more common, we’ll be doing some planning around that.”

This includes ensuring the emergency services have the resources they need to fight fire and withstand floods and recovery after the immediate danger has passed, through resilience programs.