More police and stronger community partnerships with local police were two of the major recommendations from a crime forum at Peregian Springs last week.
More than 50 local residents gathered at Peregian Springs State School Hall to share their concerns about community safety after a recent spate of crimes in the area.
It also addressed local youth crime concerns, just weeks after the state government controversially fast-tracked changes to Queensland’s youth justice laws.
Ninderry MP Dan Purdie, who hosted the forum after being approached by local residents, said the theme of the evening was to improve community safety and awareness.
“The forum was an opportunity for residents to share their concerns, but also hear from our local police and community policing partners, including Crime Stoppers, about what they can do to prevent crime before it happens,” Mr Purdie said.
Chief Inspector John Van Egmond said the forum was an excellent way for police to engage with the community, including addressing the perceptions of crime in the local area.
“There’s always things we can improve, such as the reporting of crime and increased security,” he said.
“We always talk about vehicle and house security, locking your cars, locking your house – we say it a fair bit.”
Mr Purdie said local police were doing the best they could with the resources they had.
“Some of our local police stations here on the Coast are operating at less than 50 per cent capacity and in that time the population has doubled,” he said.
“So, we’ve got twice as much work being done by half the number of police.”
The state government revealed in Budget Estimates on August 9 that in the previous financial year, there were 483 new police recruits across Queensland.
However, 685 left the service, meaning overall police numbers fell by more than 200.
In May, the Queensland Police Service announced a raft of new financial incentives to encourage more people to consider a career within the force, with the Budget Estimates revealing more than 1300 applicants in the recruit pipeline.
However, district officer Superintendent Craig Hawkins confirmed to Sunshine Coast News’ sister publication My Weekly Preview that there were no first-year recruits to the Sunshine Coast District in the past financial year.
Last week, QPS also launched its major marketing campaign ‘Challenging, Rewarding, Policing’ to boost numbers on the frontline.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said the campaign was months in the making.
“We are recruiting passionate people from all backgrounds who want to make a difference and provide world-class policing services to our communities across Queensland,” she said.
