Gold Coast District overall crime increases
Gold Coast District Officer Acting Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon today welcomed the release of the Queensland Police Service’s Statistical Review which demonstrated a reduction in drug offences, sexual offences and liquor offences across the district.
The Statistical Review represents a comprehensive insight into the level and nature of crime reported for each police district throughout Queensland.
The overall crime rate across the Gold Coast District from 2014/15 to 2015/16 increased by 9 percent to 57,980 offences.
Over the 10 year period from 2006/07 to 2015/16, Gold Coast District recorded a decrease in the rate of offences against the person and offences against property.
“When adjusted for population growth, the overall crime rate of offences against the person over the past 10 years has decreased by 0.1 percent and offences against property has decreased by 21.2 percent,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
“In the past year sexual offences decreased by 16.2 percent. Reported rapes or attempted rape offences decreased by 32 offences on the previous year and there was a 14.8 percent decrease in other sexual offences.”
The rate of robberies across the district increased by 12.5 percent in the past year although it has decreased over the past 10 years by 53.5 percent.
“There were 206 reported robberies in the year 2015/16, compared to 366 in 2006/07,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
In the past year unlawful use of motor vehicles increased by 18.9 percent and unlawful entry into houses increased by 6.4 percent, while unlawful entry into shops decreased by 27.8 percent.
Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon urges the community to be vigilant with the security to their houses, vehicles and other property items, with the rate of offences against property increasing by 19.1 percent in the last year.
“A lot of break-ins and property thefts are opportunistic and are preventable,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
“We urge the community to use all available security options on 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 Gold Coast 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 338 incidents, with a decreased rate of 60.7 percent.
“It is positive to see offences involving liquor decline in the district, however 225 incidents in the past year is still too high and police will continue to provide a large visible presence in those areas,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
The rate of drug offences also fell with a decreased rate of 7.6 percent.
“The decline in drug offences can be attributed to the large operations performed in the Gold Coast District over 2015/16 which stopped a great deal of illegal substances hitting the streets,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
In the Gold Coast District, the number of Domestic and Family Violence Applications increased from 2,858 in 2014/15 to 3,471 in 2015/16, or 19 percent in the rate of applications per 100,000 person.
“In 2015/16, approximately 69 percent of applications were police initiated,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
“Domestic and Family Violence Orders are civil orders and not a criminal matter, however if the respondent breaks the conditions of the order they are committing a criminal offence”.
The number of breaches to Domestic and Family Violence Protection Orders increased from 1,252 in 2014/15 to 1,887 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 and from the community gaining more confidence in reporting incidents to police,” Acting Chief Superintendent Hanlon 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.”
The Annual Statistical Review 2015-16 is available on the QPS website.
Note: All percentages used in this release relate to the number of reported offences per 100,000 people. Media seeking regional and district crime statistics from the Queensland Police Service 2015/16 Annual Statistical Review can locate details on the QPS website at www.police.qld.gov.au.