Shopping malls haven for thugs and thieves
STOP THE BASHINGS
ASSAULTS on Gold Coast police are on the rise, with two officers attacked on average every week, shocking data reveals.
In January alone, two cops suffered broken noses in assaults and another was bashed on the side of the M1.
One of the city’s top cops said officers “were out doing their job” and shouldn’t be treated like “punching bags”.
GOLD Coast shopping malls have become hot spots for crime, with an astounding 937 offences reported at Broadbeach’s Pacific Fair alone over the past year.
That equates to 18 incidents a week, or 2.5 incidents a day. The figures have been obtained from the Queensland Police Crime Map.
At other shopping meccas in the year to February 1, police recorded 495 incidents at Robina Town Centre, 465 at Southport’s Australia Fair, 383 at Westfield Helensvale, including 275 thefts, and 77 at the new Westfield Coomera centre, which only opened in October.
Of the five centres, Helensvale and Australia Fair recorded the highest number of assaults, with both reporting 14 over the past 12 months.
Two separate bashing attacks on teenagers last month have been the catalyst for public calls for more police shopfronts in Gold Coast shopping centres.
The calls come at a time when the police beat shopfront at Australia Fair is to be closed as the centre is redeveloped, and police say there are no plans to expand beyond the remaining two police beats at Pacific Fair and Robina Town Centre.
Parents of the bashed teens told the Bulletin they would feel safer with more police.
On January 9, a 15-yearold girl and two friends were violently attacked and robbed just metres from Westfield Coomera shopping centre after they were followed after getting off a train at Coomera station. Three girls aged 13 to 17 have been charged.
Days earlier, a special school student, 16, spent a night in hospital after he was attacked by a group of boys in the food court of Westfield Helensvale shopping centre.
He had been by himself at the time. The boy’s mother, from Coombabah, said she was worried about returning to where the attack occurred.
“He’s still traumatised, he’s too scared to go to the shopping centre by himself in case one of them (the boys) saw him,” she said.
“Even me, I’m going to be scared to go back now.”
According to the Queensland Police Crime Map, crime incidents increased around Coomera after the new centre was opened in October.
Seventy-seven offences were committed at the shopping centre area within the past 12 months, mostly for theft and good order offences which can include drunkenness, indecent behaviour, fare evasion, obscene language and resisting arrest.
Criminologist Terry Goldsworthy, of Bond University, said shopping centres were hot spots for crime.
“They’re attractive to people. There are plenty of targets if they want to commit crime, be it shoplifting, snatch and grabs. If you’re talking about stealing cars there’s plenty there,’’ he said.
“It’s a target-rich environment for them, plus if you’re sitting at home looking to commit some low-level crime what better place to be than the local shopping centre?
“Security have their hands full managing them (troublemakers) and trying to make sure they don’t commit the criminal activity we think they might be up to.”
Dr Goldsworthy conceded he sat on the fence about whether all shopping centres should install police shopfronts to deter crime. He said for practicality it should be kept to just the larger centres.
A police spokeswoman said there were police beats at Pacific Fair and Robina Town Centre, but there were no plans to open more at Coomera or Helensvale. “These shopping centres are already adequately serviced by the Coomera police division, with support from other district work units across the Gold Coast,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Westfield Helensvale and Coomera said safety and security were priorities.
The Scentre Group spokeswoman said staff were involved in regular training
THERE ARE PLENTY OF TARGETS IF THEY WANT TO COMMIT CRIME, BE IT SHOPLIFTING, SNATCH AND GRABS ... STEALING CARS
exercises with police and emergency services.
Australia Fair’s centre manager Kylee Morman said they also work closely with local police and recent work had been done to boost security. “Recently, Australia Fair has increased its security coverage throughout the centre and our car parks and installed an additional 52 cameras to our CCTV system,” she said.
Pacific Fair operations manager Amanda Attard said the goal for 2019 was to reduce the number of incidents.
“We are working with the Broadbeach Police Station to
TERRY GOLDSWORTHY
obtain a higher number of police officers to patrol the centre on a daily basis.”
Ms Attard said Pacific Fair was using more than 800 CCTV cameras, along with a police beat and around-theclock roving security.
Robina Town Centre declined to comment.