August 6, 2014
Drug offences have risen by 16 per cent, liquor offences by 13 per cent and Weapons Act offences by 12 per cent in the past year, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said today.
But he said the rises were because of better crime-fighting intelligence and greater resources, not necessarily any increase in the rate of offences per 100,000 people.
For most other offences, crime rates have dropped by between 3 per cent and 20 per cent.
Commissioner Stewart was announcing the latest crime statistics for the 2013-14 year which revealed that – overall – the rate of reported offences in Queensland was down 11 per cent.
The annual statistics showed the rate of reported crime was down across all the following categories:
- Robbery – down 18 per cent (300 fewer offences)
- Other theft – down 7 per cent (4945 fewer offences)
- Fraud – down 11 per cent (1754 fewer offences)
- Assault – down 6 per cent (865 fewer offences)
- Arson – down 20 per cent (269 fewer offences)
- Homicide – down 20 per cent (9 fewer offences)
- Handling stolen goods – down 3 per cent (81 fewer offences)
- Other offences against the person – down 13 per cent (405 fewer offences)
Police Minister Jack Dempsey said smarter policing with technology like iPads and iPhones was getting results for Queensland families.
Premier Campbell Newman attributed the drop to the hiring of 800 extra police and better police resources.
Police Commissioner Stewart said drug, liquor and Weapons Act offences were up because there were more frontline police on the beat to uncover these offences.
“It’s not only the arrests that are having an effect. It’s the fact that we’re actually preventing a lot of crime by sheer numbers of police out there,” he said.
“At the same time, people are feeling more empowered to report crimes like extortion.
“I thank the community for its support in helping the police service to stop crime and make the community safer.”
