Police have charged 740 people with around 1,323 offences across the Darling Downs district since Operation Whiskey Unison began in March last year.
The high visibility policing operation focuses on preventing, disrupting, and investigating youth crime through community engagement and patrols at intelligence-driven hotspot locations.
In the past 12 months, Operation Whiskey Unison has resulted in a total of 11,023 people being arrested on 17,791 charges state-wide, including drug, weapons, traffic, property crime and bail offences.
Of the people arrested, 4,149 of them were young people, who are facing 7,551 charges.
There have been 12,824 proactive activities in the Darling Downs district and 160,406 proactive activities completed by Police and Police Liaison Officers across the state, including hotspot patrols, shopping centre and business walk throughs, bail compliance checks, community engagements and service station drop-ins.
Targeted youth crime locations can vary across the state, but include shopping centres, business, retail and restaurant precincts, service stations and other public spaces, as well as residential areas.
The boots-on-the-ground style of operation also allows more opportunities for officers and Police Liaison Officers (PLOs) to conduct bail checks and engage with young people.
Patrols largely involve a dedicated police presence using marked vehicles, Mobile Police Beats and foot patrols in known hotspot areas, with assets such as Mounted Unit and Highway patrol also utilised.
Youth Crime Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham said these extra boots on the ground have been integral to supporting officers across the state over the past 12 months.
“Our officers work tirelessly to deter youth crime and we are taking steps in the right direction, but we know this is just the beginning of what will be a long road of persistent efforts,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Massingham said.
“Everyone from our Police Liaison officers who engage our multi-cultural and First Nations communities, to general duties patrolling shopping centres and known crime hotspots, and our district crime prevention teams working hard to assist victims of crime – our frontline does a wonderful job and the result we’ve seen from Whiskey Unison is testament to this.”
“We know high visibility is an important deterrent and it all counts towards ensuring the community feels safe.”
This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 14 March 2024.
