June 29, 2018
Three police officers suffered minor injuries in the early hours of Saturday morning while attempting to arrest five youths in relation to the theft of a Holden Colorado dual cab ute.
The vehicle had earlier been allegedly involved in a ram-raid at the Commercial Hotel in Kingaroy on Friday morning.
It was spotted by police in Wondai on Friday night, who then tracked the vehicle to Cherbourg.
A police media spokesman said the vehicle was stopped in Broadway Street about 1:55am and the five occupants attempted to flee.
When police tried to follow, a handful of teenagers who had gathered near the scene pelted the officers’ vehicles with rocks, bottles and other missiles.
They were watched by a larger group of people, some of whom tried to intervene to protect the police, while others filmed the incident on their mobile phones.
A female police officer suffered minor facial injuries when a rock smashed the passenger side window of her vehicle.
Another female officer suffered minor injuries to the side of the head when she was hit with a rock.
A male officer was also allegedly punched in the face.
Three police vehicles were damaged.
The police spokesman said two juveniles had been arrested in relation to the car theft and investigations into the other incidents were continuing.
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A video depicting part of the confrontation, posted on social media by a Cherbourg resident and shared widely, attracted a firestorm of angry comments, including many from people not resident in the South Burnett.
The comments prompted Kingaroy Police Officer-in-Charge Senior Sergeant David Tierney to release the following statement via the Kingaroy Neighbourhood Watch Facebook page:
As most people who follow social media across the South Burnett are aware, a video was posted last night of an incident that involved police being attacked and police property being damaged in the Cherbourg community.
Unfortunately this type of incident is not an isolated one. In this case the incident involved two of my officers. Minor injuries were suffered by one officer and as could be heard on the video a window was smashed on the vehicle.
Obviously I won’t, and never will, tolerate these attacks on my officers nor police property. I will ensure every step is taken to bring those responsible to justice. The same goes for my community and those that live in it.
However neither will I condone or support some of the comments made across social media in response to the video. I empathise with those who have been affected by the crimes committed by a very small minority against you and your personal property.
While I appreciate the comments that support and sympathise with the job that police have to do, I will never support the type of comments that are of a vitriolic nature and those that could be labelled “keyboard vigilantism.” These do nothing but add to the problem. Nor will I condone those who blame the actions of a minority on a whole community. In this particular case, I note the video posted was posted by a member of this particular community and far from condoned the behaviour on display. These comments being made are why so many sites, such as this, are locked from having comments posted on them so as not to be associated with what is said.
I, like you, live in this community and feel just as frustrated by what is happening due to the actions of these few. I reassure you that the across the South Burnett we, the police, are focusing all our resources on this issue.
This is not just a problem peculiar to the South Burnett. Nor is it just simply a law and order issue.
So if you truly care about the community you live in, rather than be one of those keyboard vigilantes, be someone who is prepared to step up and help tackle the issues. Be part of the solution, not the problem.
Thank you for reading this
David Tierney
Senior Sergeant
OIC Kingaroy Police
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South Burnett Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff also weighed into the law and order debate on Saturday night on social media:
I have spoken to a representative from the Qld Police tonight. They have 4 of the 5 (alleged) offenders remanded in custody. It is now up to the courts to manage the process. The Qld Police have additional resources tonight in both Murgon and Cherbourg and will continue to increase resources to manage the situation. I have been assured that they are very concerned and aware of the communities’ fears for safety.
The Magistrate can’t just keep letting these kids out of detention and back into the community. We recently met with Government reps and have urged them to set something up, away from this community, where the offenders go through a special program before they are allowed to come back.
[UPDATED]
