{"id":298045,"date":"2021-04-28T21:36:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T11:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=298045"},"modified":"2021-04-29T21:59:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:59:20","slug":"kcci-update-on-crime-social-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/04\/28\/kcci-update-on-crime-social-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"KCCI Update On Crime, Social Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Burnett CTC Youth & Family Services manager Kirsten Firman,\u00a0Detective Inspector Chris Knight and Acting Office-In-Charge of Kingaroy Police,\u00a0Acting Senior Sergeant Scott Prendergast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 28, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crime trends in the South Burnett are actually “pretty good”, the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce’s April Meet’n’Greet was told on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

The get-together of local businesspeople was hosted by South Burnett CTC at the not-for-profit organisation’s Youth and Family Services facility, next to the Kingaroy Youth Park.<\/p>\n

More than 70 local businesspeople plus South Burnett CTC staff and media were in attendance.<\/p>\n

Guest speaker was Detective Inspector Chris Knight, currently stationed in the\u00a0South West District.<\/p>\n

Det Insp Knight said any crime in an area was no good, but the trends for the South Burnett region “really are pretty good”.<\/p>\n

“(However) I know low-volume crime will have an impact on you … more so than on the Gold Coast or in Brisbane,” he said.<\/p>\n

Det Insp Knight showed tables comparing crime rates in Kingaroy, Murgon and Cherbourg over the past four years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For burglaries \/ unlawful entry, rates were trending downwards. And clear-up rates were about 70 per cent, compared with State averages of about 45 per cent.<\/p>\n

“Zero is what you’re aiming for, but overall, they’re heading in the right direction,”\u00a0Det Insp Knight said.<\/p>\n

Motor vehicle thefts were also declining, but children were over-represented in these statistics.<\/p>\n

For assaults, Kingaroy rates were declining a lot, Murgon was static and Cherbourg slightly up.\u00a0 About 90 per cent were solved.<\/p>\n

“What you don’t see … is offences of violence being committed against random victims,”\u00a0Det Insp Knight said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The number of stranger attacks across Queensland, thankfully, is very, very small.”<\/p>\n

Youths were over-represented in property offences, but not in crimes of violence where the largest majority of offenders were adults.<\/p>\n

However, Det Insp Knight said he was especially concerned about knife crime, and police would be launching a campaign about this later in the year.<\/p>\n

He said knife crime on the Gold Coast was “something you never want to experience”.<\/p>\n

“But it’s starting to creep into a lot of smaller communities,” he said. “Wherever you have got young people carrying knives, you’ve got no winners.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got an opportunity to get on top of it now before it becomes the problem we are seeing elsewhere.”<\/p>\n

Det Insp Knight shared the tragic tale of his first day in Homicide when he was called to investigate the death of a 12-year-old schoolboy, stabbed by a 13-year-old at the same school in the Nudgee area.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“There are no winners in that scenario. It is horrible for everybody involved. When you’ve got young people, immature people, carrying knives, their propensity for using them is terrific.”<\/p>\n

He said young people carried knives because “it looks tough” and they have seen it on TV, “but the minute they’re faced with a bit of conflict, it’s very easy to pull it out and things are bad”.<\/p>\n

“It’s not a huge issue at the moment in Kingaroy but it is something that I really hope the Kingaroy community and the South Burnett in general can get behind.<\/p>\n

“It’s important for all your children. Little things become big things when you add a knife to that equation.”<\/p>\n

* * *<\/h2>\n

South Burnett CTC Youth & Family Services manager Kirsten Firman was the second main speaker on the night.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs Firman explained the structure of the organisation and the responsibilities of the various arms.<\/p>\n

“We do all social services except aged care,” she said.<\/p>\n

These include:<\/strong><\/p>\n