WE OWE COPS OUR THANKS

IN the 2002 science fiction movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise plays a detective working for a “future crime squad” whose job is to prevent violent crime before it is committed.

The character played by Mr Cruise has the benefit of being told what will happen in the future, giving him precious time to stop offenders in their tracks.

Gold Coast police cannot predict the future with such accuracy. However they too are working hard to not just solve crime, but prevent it from occurring in the first place.

The Gold Coast Bulletin’s exclusive page one story today reveals the lengths officers are going to in order to keep this city safe as we count down to the Commonwealth Games in April next year.

Alarmed by a spate of crimes involving guns, a unit of ten detectives has been tasked with preventing criminals getting access to firearms.

The haul of weapons they have uncovered thus far is alarming. In the wrong hands, the risk of injury and death would be all too obvious.

When terrible crimes are committed, they always make the front pages. The hard work done behind the scenes by dedicated officers to prevent crime happening in the first place gets far less attention.

But it is every bit as signficant.

One does not need the clairvoyant abilities on show in movies like Minority Report to guess what might otherwise occur.