Amber drives down crime in Townsville

Break and enters and vehicle theft in Townsville have dropped by more than 50 per cent compared to this time last year thanks to the hard work of police officers taking part in Operation Amber.

Police Minister Jack Dempsey has congratulated Townsville police officers on the work they’ve undertaken to tackle local crime as part of the operation.

Mr Dempsey said in the first month of the operation offending had dropped by more than 50 per cent for break and enters, vehicle theft and stealing from vehicles compared to the same period last year.

“Since the start of the operation there has been in excess of 1,500 people spoken to by police from the taskforce,” Mr Dempsey said

“This has resulted in the arrests of 74 people for 190 offences which include robbery, break and enter, stealing of vehicles, drug offences and assault on police.

“Just last week, as part of Operation Amber, police officers intercepted a car found to contain a stolen firearm and drug equipment. 

“This led to two people being arrested for a range of charges related to firearm and serious drug offences including the production of methamphetamine.” 

Townsville Station’s Inspector David Nixon said that having extra police on the streets had allowed them to consistently target hot spots and deal with known repeat offenders. 

“Local police combined with the 20 additional officers from around the State are making tremendous inroads into tackling those who continually break the law and carry on with anti-social behaviour,” Inspector Nixon said.

“And while the additional officers are making progress, we’re still encouraging the community to come forward with as much information as possible to assist with the apprehension of these offenders.”

Inspector Nixon also credited the launch of the ‘myPolice Townsville’ blog for providing valuable assistance to Operation Amber. 

“The blog is proving to be an informative and efficient way of getting information from the community to the Amber crews,” Inspector Nixon said. 

“As information is provided it is checked against police records and delivered to operational police as intelligence that would not have otherwise been known.

“Equally police can readily feed information of what is going on back into the community as well as specific crime prevention messages.”

State Member for Townsville John Hathaway said the community should also ensure their property is properly secured to minimise the chances of them becoming victims of crime.

“In terms of property offending, if there was one single message police want to get out there, it is the importance of securing properties and vehicles,” Mr Hathaway said.

“In many of the offences police attend they find a house has been broken into or a car stolen by opportunistic thieves who have been able to get access due to a lapse in security.”

State Member for Thuringowa Sam Cox said Operation Amber was a clear indication that more police were needed across the State and that’s what the LNP Government is delivering.

“Even before the LNP was elected we had identified that Queensland’s police resources had depleted dramatically over many years,” Mr Cox said.

“That’s why this Government is recruiting 1,100 additional officers in the first four years and why we have seen the number of police recruits going through the Townsville Police Academy increase four-fold.”

Townsville City Council Healthy and Safe City Chair, Cr Gary Eddiehausen also congratulated local police for the great result.

“Officers in Operation Amber are doing a fantastic job and I hope repeat offenders would be given appropriate sentencing to help reduce crime within Townsville,” he said.

If anyone has information about local crime they can phone Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000, Police Link on 131 444, triple zero (000) for crime currently underway or if life is being threatened or log onto myPolice Townsville at mypolice.qld.gov.au/Townsville
 
 
 
[ENDS] 7 May 2013

Media Contacts: Danny Donald 0439 719 116 or Alexandra Foley 0418 256 910