Blame game on cop drain
Opposition says fewer officers now patrol Coast
THE Gold Coast’s drug-fuelled crime wave is being blamed on fewer cops on the beat than 12 months ago.
Official numbers from June this year show the Glitter Strip has 40 fewer cops with many of them shifted out from the region, State Parliament was told yesterday.
However, Labor said there were more cops on the Coast and accused the LNP of cherry-picking statistics.
Opposition police spokesman Tim Mander told the Bulletin: “Is it any wonder robberies, break-ins and assaults have skyrocketed under Labor?
“Behind every one of these statistics is a Gold Coast resident who’s been bashed up, shaken or lost valuable possessions.
“These figures show in black and white that Annastacia Palaszczuk and Labor are soft on crime and their weak approach is putting Gold Coast families in danger.”
Coomera LNP MP Michael Crandon released the statistics in Parliament. They were rejected by Premier Palaszczuk, sparking a heated debate.
Mr Crandon said the Coast district had 846 police officers compared to 886 a year ago. In the Coast police district the rates of assaults had increased by 28 per cent and robberies were up by 20 per cent, he said.
Premier Palaszczuk attacked the Opposition for not releasing the crime statistics during the previous Newman government. “The crime statistics are a public document because my government releases them unlike those when they were in government. There were no reports because they shut it down,” she said.
“I’m advised there are more police on the Gold Coast than there have been in the past.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the Coast district from June 30 had 1100 police which included 846 full-time officers along with those attached to specialist agencies such as Taskforce Maxima and forensics.
“So you’re cherry-picking statistics, you’re not adding them together. It’s about time you got your facts correct.”
The Bulletin this month, having run the Thin Grim Line series, revealed the Coast will only get five new young police recruits before Christmas.
The 2016-17 annual review released by police confirmed massive increases in violent offences and a fall-off in drug arrests.