I’m well aware that our police stations and frontline officers are under stress.
This is happening right across the region.
The best prevention to crime is a visible presence of police officers.
There is no substitute.
Many communities do not have sufficient police resources to adequately address the required workload, let alone be proactive.
Right across the board Gympie police are having to deal with increased crime, youth crime, and drugs affecting people, on top of managing disasters and emergencies.
In the last two years they’ve had to help during the floods, police increased looting and theft, as well as having people seconded to other areas because of Covid.
The government’s preferred statistics of approved strength in stations doesn’t give the full picture.
Most stations run under strength on a regular basis, particularly small stations such as Imbil and Kilkivan.
Even based on the government’s preferred statistic Gympie station has been stagnant at 39 officers since 2017.
In Imbil it has been two since 2017 – but that doesn’t mean that two officers will be working there.
It regularly has only one working there.
In Tin Can Bay it is eight – which includes two at Rainbow Beach where the police work from under a house.
I frequently raise police resources with the Minister in correspondence, in Parliamentary Questions, speeches in the Parliament, and the media.
He fobs it off either saying he has no say in the matter or claims they’re increasing recruitment.
The reality is that police are leaving as quickly as they’re recruited.
There is no net gain.
Making it worse is that the internal processes to replace an officer sometimes takes months.