Far North police have been busy in the first month of Operation Forge. Photos: Queensland Police.
Far North district police have charged almost 170 people with more than 350 crimes a month into a statewide crackdown targeting break-ins, robberies and car thefts by high-risk and repeat offenders.
Since the Queensland Government and police launched Operation Forge on 27 February, more than 1300 people have been charged with more than 2970 offences across the state. Of those charged, 502 were children.
Of all the charges laid, 13 per cent were in the Far North, which recorded 12 per cent of the total offences.
The high-visibility operation includes specialist police resources from the Criminal Investigation Branch, the Child Protection and Investigation Unit, tactical crime squads, POLAIR, forensic services and intelligence teams.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims said Operation Forge was starting to make a difference.
“Our focus remains firmly on the offences that cause the most harm to everyday Queenslanders,” he said.
Acting Commissioner Brett Pointing APM speaks with officers at the beginning of Operation Forge.
“Over the coming months, police will continue targeted action to prevent, disrupt and investigate crime, while holding offenders to account.”
The Crisafulli Government says it has overseen a 7.2 per cent reduction in the number of crime victims last year compared with 2024, as well as a net increase of almost 620 police officers since the October 2024 state election.
The number of youths charged with car theft spiked from 2155 in 2014 to more than 7000 in 2024, according to the government.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Dan Purdie took a shot at Labor and said Operation Forge was making Queensland safer.
“Operation Forge is about targeting the worst of the worst and making sure there are consequences for actions after a decade of Labor weakening the system,” he said.
“Labor spent 10 years making excuses while crime skyrocketed, but the Crisafulli Government is backing our police with the resources, laws and support they need to restore safety where you live.
“This operation is sending a clear message to offenders who took advantage of Labor’s soft approach — those days are over.”
The LNP government was elected on a youth crime reduction platform and has introduced “adult crime, adult time” laws, increasing the maximum sentences for children convicted of specific serious offences.
The operation is due to continue for five more months.
While some in the community have welcomed the legislative changes, Law Council of Australia president Juliana Warner previously said “there is no proof this will make our communities safer”.
She said there was “plenty of evidence it will irreparably harm the child and increase the potential of them seeing a life of crime as their only option”.
“Around the country, state and territory governments are taking supposed tough-on-crime stances which provide harsh penalties for children who commit crimes, an approach we already know does not work,” Ms Warner said.
Griffith University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Associate Professor Nadine M. Connell and lecturer Caitlin Davey were also scathing.
The pair said the changes were unlikely to curb long-term youth crime, would disproportionately affect First Nations children and would put politics ahead of public safety.
Instead, they suggested better support, education and rehabilitation in communities.
“These are the types of investments that will both improve youth behaviour and show long-term dividends for communities,” they wrote.
Operation Forge is due to continue for five more months.
Original Article published by Luke Mortimer on Region Tropical North Queensland.
