Published Thursday, 15 November, 2007 at 01:20 PM
Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport
The Honourable Judy Spence
QUEENSLAND CRIME RATES DOWN FOUR PER CENT
Queensland continues to be a safe place to live – with this year’s annual crime statistics showing a 4 percent drop in the state’s overall crime rate.
Police Minister Judy Spence tabled the Queensland Police Service Annual Statistical Review 2006/07 in Parliament today, revealing decreases in offences such as murder, assault and robbery.
Ms Spence said the latest statistics show Queenslanders continue to be very well served by our police.
“I commend police in this state on yet another year of excellent work, keeping the people of Queensland safe,” Ms Spence said.
“This government continues to inject record amounts of funding into policing in Queensland, and these figures prove our investment is paying off.
“Queensland Police are clearly embracing our tough on crime approach.”
Ms Spence and Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson congratulated officers, for continuing a six year trend, in which the crime rate has declined or remained stable since the year 2000/01.
“Over the past six years, Queensland has recorded a 19 percent drop in crime,” Ms Spence said.
“This is a fantastic result, bolstered by this year’s excellent crime figures.”
Ms Spence said the overall crime rates – calculated by the number of offences per 100,000 people – have gone down in a number of priority areas, and those areas where crime has risen are in most cases indicative of the dedication of our police to crack down on crime.
“Murder and robbery remain on a downward trend, exhibiting some of the lowest rates in these categories in the past 11 years, while there was also a decrease in the number of assaults.
“The total number of robberies is down by 11 percent, with armed robbery falling by 19 percent.
“State-wide, the rate of murder offences dropped by eight percent, and there were 145 fewer assaults reported, representing a 3 percent fall.
“These strong results show state government initiatives, coupled with community partnerships and targeted police operations are achieving their goals.”
Commissioner Atkinson said proactive and targeted policing initiatives had also led to an increase in the number of offences detected in some categories.
“The rate of liquor offences and good order offences, which includes disorderly conduct and offensive language, were up 27 percent and 13 percent respectively. This can generally be attributed to targeted police initiatives in public places,” Commissioner Atkinson said.
“Police operations focusing on anti-social behaviour, and drug and liquor offences in public places, are clearly proving successful in preventing further violent situations from developing.”
Ms Spence said in the sexual offences category there has been an overall downward trend over the past five years.
However, the Annual Statistical Review shows an increase in the specific offences of rape and attempted rape, kidnapping and abduction (which includes deprivation of liberty), with rate increases of 47 and 117 percent respectively.
Commissioner Atkinson said that although there appeared to be a significant rise in these two offence categories, the spike can be attributed overwhelmingly to the reporting of historical crimes.
“Continued community confidence, media coverage, advances in technology and supportive programs for victims of sexual assault, have ensured that the public are willing to come forward and report crimes that occurred in some instances many years ago,” Mr Atkinson said.
“Twenty percent of sexual offences and 48 percent of kidnapping and abduction offences reported during the past 12 months relate to historical cases. If we remove the historical reports of sexual offences, we have an actual decrease of seven percent.
“If we remove the historical influence from the kidnapping and abduction category, we have an overall increase of 18 percent reported in 2006/07, as compared to 117 percent in total.
“Some of the historical data included in this reporting period relates to one offender, who is allegedly responsible for 500 sexual offences against two victims occurring over 30 years ago.”
Ms Spence said police are to be commended for their dedication to solving historical crimes in Queensland – providing the victims some level of closure.
“For the victims, reporting and re-living the memories of these historical offences can be a very traumatic experience,” Ms Spence said.
“Their willingness to come forward and report these offences shows the public has great confidence in the police handling of such complex investigations.
“The good news is the rate of other sexual offences fell seven percent in 2006/07, with a decrease of 246 cases on the previous year.”
Ms Spence said a 7 percent overall decrease in property offences this year is the result of concerted efforts by police to work with communities to improve security.
“In the past 12 months there have been 1388 fewer reported house break-ins, 773 fewer shop break-ins and 647 fewer vehicles stolen across Queensland,” Ms Spence said.
“A person’s home and car are seen as two of their greatest assets – so it is great to see police efforts and community support are resulting in a reduction in property related crime.
“This government has also made significant investments in technology for police. Together with proactive and innovative policing strategies, this investment has delivered a decrease of 29 percent for computer-related fraud offences.
“The communities increasing reliance and dependency on technology, particularly internet transactions and telephone banking, have seen an increase in credit card fraud of 14 percent and a decrease of cheque fraud of 31 percent.
“This is once again a timely reminder to all internet users to safeguard their personal information.
“The fact that overall, fraud offences have dropped by 18 percent this year, shows the smart-state messages on financial and personal security are getting through.
Ms Spence said police across Queensland deserve the gratitude of the whole community, for their continuing dedication to reducing crime.
“Our police continue to make great strides in detecting and controlling crime, ensuring that Queensland is a safe place to live,” Ms Spence said.
“This annual review is essential in assisting police to develop targeted and strategic responses to crime and safety issues.
“I know police will study these results closely, to determine any areas where we can introduce new strategies or specific initiatives, in an effort to continually reduce crime rates in this state.”
Note: All percentages used in the media release relate to the rate (the number of reported offences per 100,000 people). An electronic copy of the Queensland Police Service Annual Statistical Review 2006/07 is available on the QPS website at www.police.qld.gov.au. There is a link from the homepage to the current statistical review, which was tabled in State Parliament.
Media contacts: Nicola Hazell (Minister’s office) – 3239 6172 / 0439 673 287
Police Media – 3015 2444
Police Minister Judy Spence tabled the Queensland Police Service Annual Statistical Review 2006/07 in Parliament today, revealing decreases in offences such as murder, assault and robbery.
Ms Spence said the latest statistics show Queenslanders continue to be very well served by our police.
“I commend police in this state on yet another year of excellent work, keeping the people of Queensland safe,” Ms Spence said.
“This government continues to inject record amounts of funding into policing in Queensland, and these figures prove our investment is paying off.
“Queensland Police are clearly embracing our tough on crime approach.”
Ms Spence and Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson congratulated officers, for continuing a six year trend, in which the crime rate has declined or remained stable since the year 2000/01.
“Over the past six years, Queensland has recorded a 19 percent drop in crime,” Ms Spence said.
“This is a fantastic result, bolstered by this year’s excellent crime figures.”
Ms Spence said the overall crime rates – calculated by the number of offences per 100,000 people – have gone down in a number of priority areas, and those areas where crime has risen are in most cases indicative of the dedication of our police to crack down on crime.
“Murder and robbery remain on a downward trend, exhibiting some of the lowest rates in these categories in the past 11 years, while there was also a decrease in the number of assaults.
“The total number of robberies is down by 11 percent, with armed robbery falling by 19 percent.
“State-wide, the rate of murder offences dropped by eight percent, and there were 145 fewer assaults reported, representing a 3 percent fall.
“These strong results show state government initiatives, coupled with community partnerships and targeted police operations are achieving their goals.”
Commissioner Atkinson said proactive and targeted policing initiatives had also led to an increase in the number of offences detected in some categories.
“The rate of liquor offences and good order offences, which includes disorderly conduct and offensive language, were up 27 percent and 13 percent respectively. This can generally be attributed to targeted police initiatives in public places,” Commissioner Atkinson said.
“Police operations focusing on anti-social behaviour, and drug and liquor offences in public places, are clearly proving successful in preventing further violent situations from developing.”
Ms Spence said in the sexual offences category there has been an overall downward trend over the past five years.
However, the Annual Statistical Review shows an increase in the specific offences of rape and attempted rape, kidnapping and abduction (which includes deprivation of liberty), with rate increases of 47 and 117 percent respectively.
Commissioner Atkinson said that although there appeared to be a significant rise in these two offence categories, the spike can be attributed overwhelmingly to the reporting of historical crimes.
“Continued community confidence, media coverage, advances in technology and supportive programs for victims of sexual assault, have ensured that the public are willing to come forward and report crimes that occurred in some instances many years ago,” Mr Atkinson said.
“Twenty percent of sexual offences and 48 percent of kidnapping and abduction offences reported during the past 12 months relate to historical cases. If we remove the historical reports of sexual offences, we have an actual decrease of seven percent.
“If we remove the historical influence from the kidnapping and abduction category, we have an overall increase of 18 percent reported in 2006/07, as compared to 117 percent in total.
“Some of the historical data included in this reporting period relates to one offender, who is allegedly responsible for 500 sexual offences against two victims occurring over 30 years ago.”
Ms Spence said police are to be commended for their dedication to solving historical crimes in Queensland – providing the victims some level of closure.
“For the victims, reporting and re-living the memories of these historical offences can be a very traumatic experience,” Ms Spence said.
“Their willingness to come forward and report these offences shows the public has great confidence in the police handling of such complex investigations.
“The good news is the rate of other sexual offences fell seven percent in 2006/07, with a decrease of 246 cases on the previous year.”
Ms Spence said a 7 percent overall decrease in property offences this year is the result of concerted efforts by police to work with communities to improve security.
“In the past 12 months there have been 1388 fewer reported house break-ins, 773 fewer shop break-ins and 647 fewer vehicles stolen across Queensland,” Ms Spence said.
“A person’s home and car are seen as two of their greatest assets – so it is great to see police efforts and community support are resulting in a reduction in property related crime.
“This government has also made significant investments in technology for police. Together with proactive and innovative policing strategies, this investment has delivered a decrease of 29 percent for computer-related fraud offences.
“The communities increasing reliance and dependency on technology, particularly internet transactions and telephone banking, have seen an increase in credit card fraud of 14 percent and a decrease of cheque fraud of 31 percent.
“This is once again a timely reminder to all internet users to safeguard their personal information.
“The fact that overall, fraud offences have dropped by 18 percent this year, shows the smart-state messages on financial and personal security are getting through.
Ms Spence said police across Queensland deserve the gratitude of the whole community, for their continuing dedication to reducing crime.
“Our police continue to make great strides in detecting and controlling crime, ensuring that Queensland is a safe place to live,” Ms Spence said.
“This annual review is essential in assisting police to develop targeted and strategic responses to crime and safety issues.
“I know police will study these results closely, to determine any areas where we can introduce new strategies or specific initiatives, in an effort to continually reduce crime rates in this state.”
Note: All percentages used in the media release relate to the rate (the number of reported offences per 100,000 people). An electronic copy of the Queensland Police Service Annual Statistical Review 2006/07 is available on the QPS website at www.police.qld.gov.au. There is a link from the homepage to the current statistical review, which was tabled in State Parliament.
Media contacts: Nicola Hazell (Minister’s office) – 3239 6172 / 0439 673 287
Police Media – 3015 2444