Queensland to Fly-In, Fly-Out Police Officers to Crime Hotspots

A police vehicle and tape in Cairns, Australia, on Dec. 19, 2014. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Fly-in-fly-out specialist officers will target crime hotspots across Queensland in a major state government effort to cut crime rates and prevent repeat offending.

Operation Whiskey Legion, announced on March 27, will have specialist unit officers working with local police on continuous patrols, targeting vehicle theft, property crime, robbery, assault, and Domestic and Family Violence (DFV).

The Operation will start in Ipswich and Logan before expanding to regional areas in the following weeks.

Premier Steven Miles said the program has shown success in several policing districts already.

“They’re using really high-quality intelligence to identify where they should go and what the most appropriate intervention in that community will be,” he told ABC news.

“This is about preventing crime, intervening early, and intervening with offenders before their offending escalates so that we can stop that offending in its tracks.”

He didn’t disclose the specific number of additional deployed officers, but he said the “surge” would be sufficient enough to support the thousands of police in Queensland.

“What we have is more than 12,000 police in Queensland and a record number of recruits joining the service, and that [Operation Whiskey Legion] gives us those extra resources that we need as well as extra tools for them, so extra vehicles, extra mobile police beats, we’ve already deployed extra helicopters, and those reinforcements will really help police do their job.”

Leadership Change After Carjacking Incident

It’s the first initiative under Acting Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, who assumed the role after Katarina Carroll’s resignation last month.

Ms. Carroll accelerated her exit from the top position amidst rising concerns over youth crime and officer unrest, following the stabbing death of 70-year-old grandmother Vyleen White in a suspected carjacking outside a Brisbane shopping center earlier this month.

A 16-year-old boy, who was out on bail for armed robbery, was charged with murder.

Ms. White’s husband has since delivered a condemnation of the Miles Labor government, accusing them of culpability in his wife’s stabbing.

“The labour government of this state, every member in that cabinent there, when my wife got stabbed in the heart, they all had a hand on that knife together,” hesaid. 

The family demanded law reforms in honor of Ms. White’s memory.

It comes as Queensland faces a 6 percent surge in youth crime, with 10,878 offenders aged between 10 and 17 years in 2022-23, with youth offenders accounting for 13 percent of total offenders.

RACQ research indicates most Queenslanders are worried, with more than half (52 percent) stating they were concerned about home or vehicle break-ins.

“We will continue tackling crime from all angles to ensure the community is safe and feels safe,” Mr. Miles said in response.

Expansion of Crime Prevention Initiatives

“Bring the Beat,” a statewide mobile police beat service, and several other crime prevention initiatives will expand as part of the Operation.

Bring the Beat enables the public to request a mobile police beat, or base, in their local area for high-visibility presence in hotspots, as well as greater public access and support from policing resources.

Beats have been deployed over 50 times in 14 different suburbs of Townsville since its launch last November.

Operation Whiskey Unison, Taskforce Guardian, over 165,000 crime hotspot patrols, shopping centre walk-throughs, bail compliance checks, and community engagements will also see an expansion.

Operation Whiskey Unison has resulted in over 11,300 people arrested on more than 18,200 charges through high-visibility patrols and activities since March 2023.

The latest data from Whiskey Unison revealed 4,100 of those arrests were of children.

“We have seen the Queensland Police Service deliver strong results through Taskforce Guardian and Operation Whiskey Unison and look forward to seeing this new operation make an impact in our communities,” Mr. Miles said.

Labor and LNP Clash Ahead of October Election

The Miles Labor government and the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) have both campaigned hard on dealing with crime ahead of the next state election in October.

In the LNP’s latest move, opposition police and community safety spokesperson Dan Purdi criticised Labor’s new Operation, saying it lacked the necessary police resources to address crime and ensure community safety.

“I have no doubt our local police and community would like to see some police fly in ... for a weekend. But what happens when they leave? We need to give our local police the resources and the laws they need to do their job and keep us safe,” he said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli added if the LNP win government, they will increase police presence and implement robust laws to enhance community safety.

The pledged Making Queensland Safer Laws will involve eliminating detention as a last resort, prioritising victims’ rights in sentencing laws, and guaranteeing that crime victims receive automatic case updates.