CRIME WAVE Huge spike in juvenile offending

ACTION on juvenile crime has been demanded after new figures reveal a huge jump in car thefts and break-ins across the Far North in the past 12 months.

The number of charges laid over stolen vehicles has climbed almost 32 per cent in a year, according to unofficial police figures, while break-ins have increased by just over 7 per cent.

Senior police say teenagers and young adults continue to be the main perpetrators of the offending, often operating in groups and committing many offences in short periods of time.

The figures have prompted the LNP to demand youth justice reforms.

Far North police Chief Supt Brett Schafferius said officers, particularly the Property Crime Squad, continued to monitor the changing methods of young property offenders to develop strategies to catch them.

“We look at what they do, how they’re doing it and generally how they’re operating,” he said.

“Unfortunately there will always be a certain section of the community that want to prey on people, break in and steal their vehicles, but we are continuing to work with other stakeholders and the community to address that.”

The Far North is not alone with significant jumps in car thefts recorded in every Queensland police district, except Mt Isa.

Other types of crime have also recorded a jump in the region including Weapons Act offences (16.3%), domestic violence order breaches (12.9%) and assaults (2.3%).

Fraud has also climbed more than 55 per cent, although this has commonly been attributed to the growing use of pay wave technology.

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Mark Ryan said he was aware of property crime problems in the Far North and worked with police to ensure they were well resourced.

“Cairns police are constantly undertaking intelligence-drive patrols of crime hot spots across the city with operational strategies ... to obtain evidence necessary to identify and charge those who commit crimes,” she said.

The LNP’s attorney-general spokesman Ian Walker, in Cairns yesterday, said a tougher stance needed to be taken on juvenile offenders.

He highlighted overcrowding at Queensland’s two youth detention centres and the need for more facilities, but did not commit to building one.

Mr Walker said the LNP would introduce a minimum mandatory community payback scheme for young property offenders in the form of community service, mandatory for first time offenders.

Mr Ryan’s spokeswoman also lauded Project Booyah, an award-winning program targeting at-risk youths, which was improving outcomes for former juvenile offenders.