Crime blitz has early wins
Police gather intelligence to target resources at areas and times of worst offending
ALMOST 100 people have been charged in the opening week of a new blitz on Cairns crime with police adamant their wide-reaching tactics will cut crime, not just shift it.
More than 30 officers have been assigned to the latest Greater Cairns Taskforce, which is expected to run for at least three months.
A similar taskforce ran for several weeks at the start of the year.
Taskforce boss Sen-Sgt Kevin Gleeson said much of their early focus had been around the Earlville area after a spike in crime around the Stockland Cairns Shopping Centre and surrounding streets.
Police revealed earlier this month a crime blitz in the CBD had likely pushed offending out to Earlville.
“This is an area where there are a number of offences being committed and we will concentrate in that area until it is sorted out,” Sen-Sgt Gleeson said.
“We want to avoid doing that (shifting crime).
“Most of the taskforce is not just going call to call. The objective of the taskforce is towards intelligence being given and the detection and disruption of crime to give the community confidence they can go about their business.”
A total of 177 charges have been laid in the first seven days, including a total of 45 drug offences and 24 property offences.
Sen-Sgt Gleeson said they were using intelligence to better target crime based on where and what time offences had previously been committed.
“We are continuously evaluating where we’re patrolling,” he said.
“(It’s about) being in the right place at the right time.”
He said the Christmas holidays were traditionally a period of heightened crime and a key focus of the taskforce was to reduce that.