Police operation marks milestone with more than 200 arrests on Coast
Police have charged 203 people with around 179 offences across the Sunshine Coast since a high visibility policing operation began in March last year.
Operation Whiskey Unison 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 juveniles, who are facing 7,551 charges.
There have been 5,647 proactive activities in the Sunshine Coast district and 160,406 proactive activities completed by Police and Police Liaison Officers across the state, including hotspot patrols, shopping centre and business walkthroughs, 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.”
• If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting.
• Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.