Police station

THE current Qld Government budget has allocated money for a police station at Highfields and it is obvious that current crime figures were not used as a basis for this decision. Shown below are crime figures for all offences for the past three years which were obtained from the QPS web site for the following areas;

1. Area one: Highfields, Cabarlah, Meringandan and Geham.

2. Area two: Wilsonton, Wilsonton Heights, Cotswold Hills, Rockville and Newtown.

Past 12 months: Area one: 168. Area two: 4283

2015/16: Area one: 204. Area two: 3443

2014/2015: Area one: 198. Area two: 3666

These figures show that crime in the Highfields area (area one) has actually dropped by 15% over the past three years.

I am of the belief that the current police arrangement for the Highfields area is sufficient to deal with the current crime rate as this figure is dropping even though the population is increasing. Area two has a significantly higher crime rate (20-fold) and crime has actually increased by 17% over the past three years.

If these crime figures are used to determine the location of a new police station then logic would say that it should be located somewhere in the north/west Toowoomba region. One possibility is on the corner of Hogg and Greenwattle Sts.

This position is near a current crime hotspot and would allow police reasonably quick access to Highfields and very quick access to the new bypass road.

The decision to build a police station at Highfields appears to have been based on winning votes rather than on what is in the best interest for the area. — F. REIMANN, Rockville