Youth crime numbers are already trending down in Queensland through existing measures, the state’s top police officer says, as the government vows to speedily implement its ‘adult time for adult crime’ laws.
The Liberal National government wants harsher sentences imposed on youths who commit serious crimes, such as murder or manslaughter, by Christmas as it claims crime is out of control.
Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski acknowledged the newly elected government’s focus on youth crime but said it is already a priority for the force.
He argued that numbers are decreasing thanks to existing measures such as fly-in, fly-out deployments called Taskforce Guardian.
“I think it’s very clear that they’ve committed to interventions as well as responding to youth crime, and that’s our job, and we’re doing that pretty well,” the police chief told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen some improvements this year in the numbers of youth offenders and the number of youth offences.
“So it is heading in the right direction.”
But more was needed from across agencies to prevent children becoming involved in crime, he said.
Mr Gollschewski said the police focus would remain the same with the change of government – to crack down on crime.
“We’ll be doing exactly what we’re doing, which is making sure that we are focusing on those people who are committing offences that cause the most harm to our community, including young people,” he said.
Mr Gollschewski met with Premier David Crisafulli and deputy Jarrod Bleijie on Monday, saying it had been a constructive discussion with the leaders understanding the pressures on the force.
These include the growing number of domestic violence offences, around 200,000 occurrences per year, which the LNP has promised to slow.
Policies include the introduction of ankle bracelets for monitoring high-risk offenders and rollout of three new Beyond DV “Hope Hubs” in shopping centres.
Mr Gollschewski also defended the $116 million blowout to the police force’s budget as the premier promised there would be no impact on frontline services.
He said he was awaiting the outcome of an audit into an unbudgeted 15-year lease on a new station at Stones Corner in Brisbane’s inner south, with an option to extend it for a total of $240 million.
As the Stones Corner audit proceeds, Mr Gollschewski has also found the police force has committed money to initiatives not funded in the budget.
“I’ve found that we have committed to things that are other things that are not funded,” the police chief said.
Mr Gollschewski said his team was going through the budget with a fine-tooth comb, but flagged it may require state government intervention.
Meanwhile, the LNP government may put its hardline stance on hold for schoolies celebrations while it considers expert advice.
Pill testing at the Gold Coast event was to be rolled out at a cost of $80,000 by the former Labor government, which the LNP said it would ditch if elected.
After ending Labor’s nine-year reign at the election on Saturday, Mr Crisafulli said he would await advice on a pill-testing ban with the schoolies event just weeks away.
However, he maintains the LNP does not support pill testing.
“The question was asked about schoolies, which is in three weeks’ time – we’re not talking about in the future, I’m talking about this event here and I’ve asked for some advice,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Queensland is one of only three jurisdictions in the nation to have legalised pill testing.
