Community & Business
22 March, 2025
Police battle brazen crims
YOUNG offenders in the Mareeba area are showing signs of working in larger groups and are getting more opportunistic in stealing cars, a senior police officer has confirmed.
The comments come after growing public concerns that crime is becoming more organised and brazen in the area.
“We do see instances where we have multiple offenders and obviously, they are looking for an opportunity to commit offences,” Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said last week.
“There’s a degree of organisation, but it’s not sophisticated.
“There’s been a shift in greater Cairns and the Tablelands area - we have seen that commonality of offenders grouping together, but they organise themselves on a limited basis.”
Det Insp. Chetham is responsible for regional police across Cairns, the Tablelands and as far afield as the Cassowary Coast.
He said the recent assignment of police officers to the Tablelands left the force well-equipped to deal with offences.
“I believe we’ve got enough police up here to keep the community safe,” he said.
“We rely very heavily upon the information that community can provide us, and we try to be very proactive and dissuade people from committing crimes, and where we have to, we have the resources here to react.”
He said when residents see a group acting suspiciously, they should contact the police, day or night.
He also acknowledged the recent car thefts, footage of which had swamped social media.
“The lady who had her car stolen, that was a single offender and very opportunistic,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the offender knew there was a child in the back.”
Another incident of a car stolen from a man while he was pumping up the tyres at a local service station, was filmed in a dramatic police roadblock across the Granite Creek bridge. Again, a very opportunistic theft attempt Det Insp. Chetham said.
“The victims are not to blame,” he added, and many people can be caught out.
People leaving their car running while they quickly duck into a coffee shop, a pizza pick-up, or a bottlo run were typical examples of opening themselves up to theft, as was leaving doors unlocked at home – so common in country towns.
“We’d love to be able to do that, but it’s not the environment we live in at the moment,” Det Insp. Chetham said.
“We encourage people to secure their property.
“It does pay to be aware, and as I say, when people see something suspicious and provide us with information, hopefully, we can act on it and try to prevent the offences from happening in the first place.”
