Candidate takes firm stance on criminality

A GOLD Coast election candidate has called for a clampdown on crime throughout the city’s southern suburbs.

Division 12 candidate Zac Revere has pledged extensive measures including more CCTV and lighting in Mermaid Waters, Mermaid Beach, Miami and Burleigh Waters ahead of tomorrow’s election.

The 23-year-old candidate said the plan was a response to a rise in “thugs, drugs and bad behaviour” across the area.

“What I’m pledging is an extensive CCTV network throughout our streets,” he said, adding it was something mentioned frequently during doorknocking in the area.

“It’s not even to stop (criminals), it’s to deter and to have evidence. A lot of people lose things, or people break into their homes, kick down their fences and there’s no evidence whatsoever. I’ve also pledged to work with Neighbourhood Watch teams … I’d like to put them on the front foot and be able to say to them, ‘we need a big focus in Burleigh Waters and Miami’.”

In the last quarter there have been 23 unlawful entry offences in Miami, 32 in Burleigh Waters and 65 in Mermaid Beach and Mermaid Waters, according to the Queensland Police crime map.

Mr Revere said youth crime had also become a serious issue for families.

“What they’re doing is going up and harassing these families,” he said. “Banging on their back doors, ringing doorbells at two in the morning, going through garages and checking the doors are locked.

“(These things) will give these thugs nowhere to hide, it gives them no opportunity to even think about committing a crime knowing they will get caught, they will be punished.”