Too easy for crims to cut, run

THE community hopes fitting GPS tracking devices to criminals is one way to keep them safe from offenders.

But one in eight parolees in Townsville has been charged for cutting off the ankle devices and that’s disturbing, to say the least. Just recently, the case of Kasie Rice attracted huge public attention after Rice allegedly cut off his GPS tracker.

During Rice’s dramatic arrest, a police officer lost the tips of two fingers.

Townsville MP Scott Stewart is right when he says seven out of eight people are doing the right thing and those who cut off the devices face severe consequences.

However, it’s difficult to see why a sturdier material can’t be used to make it harder for criminals to cut and run.

Parolees need to be rehabilitated and to prove they are capable of living in the community again but the community has the right to feel safe and protected.

The concerns of law- abiding residents, rather than the comfort of criminals, should come first.

CBD caught short on loos

What hope can we have of fixing up the city centre when we hear of how it’s being used by late- night partygoers?

That our CBD is being used as one big public toilet is nothing short of disgusting and the CCTV footage given to the

gives an insight into what traders and council workers are left to clean up. The issue is twofold. There are clearly not adequate facilities for people to visit in the wee small hours.

But some of the behaviour of those responsible for emptying their bladders or, worse, bowels in fire doors or shopfronts is completely deplorable.

Managing night precincts is often fraught with difficulty given the unpredictable nature of revellers.

But it seems obvious that if there are no facilities for people to use, in desperate times they are going to resort to desperate measures, and sadly business owners and council workers are left to clean up behind them.