Nearly 1,000 juvenile offenders were arrested in Townsville in the space of just one year on suspicion of committing property crimes, a Queensland Police investigation has concluded.
Key points:
- Nearly 1,000 juvenile offenders were arrested for property crimes across Townsville in 2022
- Operation Uniform Cygnus aimed to crack down on repeat criminal offenders
- Police hope North Queenslanders will take part in the government’s $10 million engine immobiliser trial
Detectives have ended the year-long Operation Uniform Cygnus, which launched at the beginning of 2022 to target repeat offenders and reduce growing rates of property crime, including burglary and car theft.
A total of 1,322 offenders were arrested and charged with a share of more than 4,000 offences, with juvenile offenders accounting for three-quarters of the group.
Detective Acting Inspector Chris Hicks said groups of young, repeat offenders targeting “high-end” property were behind multiple break-ins across the city.
“These offenders are opportunistic, and they’ll try every door in the street to get into a house,” he said.
“We can get them identified, investigated, arrested and put before the court, that’s our focus.”
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Fred Starr said police had responded to dozens of reports of stolen cars this week, with efforts patrolling vehicle dumping “hotspots” to continue.
“The age group is anywhere between 10 and 17 that we’re dealing with constantly,” he said.
Police say they will continue to deter prolific offenders with the newly launched Operation Victor Fastback, which will run until the end of 2023.
Senior Sergeant Starr said the focus would be on disrupting communication channels between criminal groups and cracking down on offenders sharing their crimes to social media.
“They’re very mobile in vehicles, they can be on one side of Townsville one minute and be on the other side in a very short period of time,” he said.
Police hope their efforts will be supported by a comprehensive overhaul of Queensland’s youth justice laws set to be introduced by the state government in February.
The changes, sparked by the fatal stabbing of 41-year-old Emma Lovell during a home invasion on Boxing Day last year, also include a $10 million trial of 20,000 engine immobilisers across Mount Isa, Cairns and Townsville.
An engine immobiliser is an electronic security device that stops a vehicle from starting without a unique key or code.
Inspector Hicks said police actively encouraged the community to take part in the trial.
“I look forward to it actually. Sometimes that’s the hardest bit, getting these vehicles to stop in a safe manner,” he said.