Crime Rate Up 9pc

September 30, 2016

The latest statistics released by Queensland Police show that crime in the Darling Downs District – the police area which includes most of the South Burnett – has risen 9 per cent over the past 12 months.

But it is not all gloom and doom … robberies and liquor offences are down.

And taken across 10 years, offences against the person and offences against property are also both down.

There were 24,373 offences logged in the Darling Downs District during 2015-16.

A large part of this rise included drug offences (up 16.9 per cent per 100,000 people) and traffic matters (up 40.3 per cent).

Darling Downs District Officer Superintendent Mark Kelly welcomed the release of the Queensland Police Service’s Statistical Review statistics on Friday.

The Review provides an insight into the level and nature of crime reported for each police district throughout Queensland.

“When adjusted for population growth, the overall crime rate of offences against the person over the past 10 years decreased by 8.6 per cent and offences against property decreased by 21 per cent,” Superintendent Kelly said.

In 2015-16 the rate of unlawful use of motor vehicles increased by 6.2 per cent and unlawful entry rose 1.6 per cent.

Supt Kelly urges the community to be vigilant with the security of their property with 8585 offences against property reported in the past year.

“A lot of break-ins and vehicle and property thefts are opportunistic and are preventable,” Supt Kelly said.

“We urge the community to use all available security options of their property to prevent opportunistic thefts as a result of unlocked or unsecured property.

“In addition to proactive and intelligence-led patrols, police will continue with proactive policing and community programs, such as the Darling Downs myPolice blog and Neighbourhood Watch groups, to remind the community to be actively participating in crime prevention methods.”

The number of liquor offences across the district fell by 54 incidents, down 20.6 percent.

“It is positive to see offences involving liquor decline in the district, however even one is still too high and police will continue to provide a large presence in those areas,” Supt Kelly said.

The number of Domestic and Family Violence Applications in the Darling Downs District increased from 1164 in 2014-15 to 1275 in 2015-16.

“In 2015-16, approximately 68 per cent of applications were police initiated,” Supt Kelly said.

The number of breaches to Domestic and Family Violence Protection Orders increased from 741 in 2014-15 to 890 in 2015-16.

“The increase of reports of domestic and family violence can be attributed to the proactive work being done by police in the district, the work done by many community organizations in supporting victims and from the community gaining more confidence in reporting incidents to police,” Supt Kelly said.

“The QPS is committed to working in partnership with the people of Queensland to provide professional policing services that will, over time, prevent and reduce the incidents of domestic violence in Queensland.”

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In the neighbouring Wide Bay Burnett District, which includes Goomeri and Kilkivan, Superintendent Mark Stiles highlighted a reduction in fraud and liquor offences.

The overall crime again showed a 9 per cent rise to 22,584.

“The overall crime rate of offences against the person over the past 10 years has decreased by 27.5 per cent (per 100,000 people) and offences against property has decreased by 22.3 percent,” Supt Stiles said.

In 2015-16 unlawful use of motor vehicles rose by 8.3 per cent and unlawful entry into houses increased by 2.4 per cent, while unlawful entry into shops dropped 22.3 per cent.

Fraud offences fell to 4.1 per cent per 100,000 people. Cheque fraud dropped 90 per cent, credit card fraud 7.3 per cent, and computer fraud 60.2 per cent. Identity fraud rose by 12 offences.

The number of liquor offences across the district fell by 43, with a decreased rate of 29.3 per cent.

The number of Domestic and Family Violence Applications increased from 1534 in 2014-15 to 2033 in 2015-16, or 32 per cent in the rate of applications per 100,000 person.

“In 2015-16, approximately 70 per cent of applications were police initiated,” Supt Stiles said.