Far North: crime capital
THUGS in the Cape York region are to blame for new statistics that show the Far North has the worst crime rate in Queensland, Mulgrave MP Warren Pitt said yesterday.
The Queensland Police statistical review released yesterday shows assaults, drug offences, sexual offences and rape and attempted rape are the highest in the state.
But the per capita figures also show a drop in armed robbery by 33 per cent, break-ins by 13 per cent, fraud by 27 per cent and serious assault by 6 per cent.
"The figures in the Far Northern region are also skewed because of communities in the Cape," Mr Pitt said.
"I think everyone knows that the level of violence is substantially higher than most other
communities.
"We had the riots at Aurukun and inter-clan fighting when families are fighting."
Rape and attempted rape rose by 20 per cent in 2007-08 compared with 2006-07 in the Far North and other sexual offences rose by 23 per cent.
Drug offences rose by 3 per cent, other offences by 7 per cent and weapons by 30 per cent.
Cairns Mayor Val Schier echoed Mr Pitt’s view about Cape communities and said it wasn’t up to politicians to fix the problem.
"It’s up to communities to fix these problems," she said.
"They (politicians) can represent the community – we’re talking about 30 Torres Strait Islander communities that are included in that."
Cairns councillor and CBD taskforce member Alan Blake said the region’s MPs needed to be held accountable for the rise in crime.
He said the council used more than 70 cameras around Cairns’ CBD to beat crims but more government measures were needed.
Last month, Police Minister Judy Spence announced an extra 12 officers would be added to the Cairns police ranks.
Police Acting Supt David Tucker said there was no way of "putting a finger" on the high rate of crime in the Far North.
"It will be great one day if we can drop down to the state average," he said.
"It’s something that the police will continue to work with the community. We can always improve."
Click here to read the full report.
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Crime response: Mulgrave MP Warren Pitt.
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