Following a visit to Toowoomba last week by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, a raft of measures has been introduced that aim to combat crime.
The community safety reforms, introduced to state Parliament last week, include extreme high-visibility police patrols becoming a permanent feature of policing in the Toowoomba region and the State Flying Squad being expanded and given a youth justice focus to tackle youth crime hot spots whenever and wherever they emerge.
A trial of electronic monitoring devices will be expanded to include Toowoomba, which applies to young offenders 15 years and older, previously only being applied to 16 and 17 year olds.
An intensive bail supervision program will be expanded to Toowoomba which provides targeted local case and place-based responses to youth released on bail.
Support is provided by police to help young people comply with their bail conditions and keep them from returning to custody, reducing demand on watchhouses and Youth Justice Detention Centres.
Premier Palaszczuk said people in Toowoomba will see more police, more often, out in the streets patrolling shopping centres and other areas where people gather.
This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 2 March 2023.
