POLICE have told Redlanders of their plans to move away from a “bricks and mortar approach” to more mobile policing, as residents call for more police officers and a station at Victoria Point to deal with crime.
The policing strategy was presented by officers at a community safety forum hosted by Redlands MP Kim Richards and deputy mayor Lance Hewlett last Thursday at Victoria Point’s Sharks Club.
Cleveland police station officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Janelle Harm said developments in technology, crime forecasting and intelligence gathering meant officers could become more mobile.
She said statistics showed the Redlands was not a high crime area like other places in south-east Queensland, but urged witnesses to report anti-social behaviour and crime to police or to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The Redlands biggest issues were people not reporting crime and keeping their cars and homes unsecured.
South Brisbane policing district Chief Superintendent Brian Swann said the mobile policing approach was part of a state-wide push to improve service.
“We want to be truly intelligence driven,” he said.
“We want to be a mobile workforce that can respond quickly.”
Residents at the forum called out for more CCTV across the city to monitor and deter people from committing property crimes.
Community safety officer Byron Shreeve said the costs associated with Redland City Council installing CCTV across the city were huge, saying Logan City Council had spent $5 million on CCTV infrastructure and about $750,000 every year to employ staff to review footage.
He said council had applied for the federal government’s Safer Communities Fund to install CCTV at two priority locations, understood to be at Weinam Creek and Capalaba Place.
Residents also called for a more visible police presence, including more patrols to Victoria Point on Friday and Saturday nights.
Senior Sergeant Harm said police were often deployed for covert work, dressed in plain clothes.
Police were also helped by discrete speed cameras and could be helped further if home owners with CCTV capturing their yards and street contacted police to let them know about their camera arrangements.
One Redlands resident – Kris Davidson – said he believed Queensland Police could bolster their ranks by training volunteers in enforcement.
“They obviously don’t have enough police and they can’t get them because of funding,” he said.
Redlands MP Kim Richards, who announced the continued roll-out of iPads for police in July to help officers file reports away from the station, said that advances in technology would continue to help police.
Cr Paul Golle said he wanted residents in his division who complained about problems on social media to tell him so he could help find solutions.
After the forum, deputy mayor Lance Hewlett said police did a brilliant job but more resources were needed to tackle crime and drug-related activity at Victoria Point.
Bowman MP Andrew Laming, who attended the event, said he wanted police to catch hoons by using cameras, also mentioning the federal government’s national wastewater drug monitoring program.
The event was also attended by other police, including bayside patrol group Inspector Lindsay Kilpatrick and bayside district crime prevention's Senior Constable Brendon Winslow.
Witnesses to crime can contact Policelink on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
