Question on Notice No. 2325 Asked on 24 November 2010

DR DOUGLAS asked the Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services (MR ROBERTS)—

QUESTION:

With reference to rail squads in the South Eastern Policing Region—

(1) Will the Minister provide (a) the total number of rail squads, (b) their location and (c) the number of Police officers in each squad?

(2) Due to the region’s growth and the southern extension of the will the Minister outline why no rail squad has been formed and based permanently at any one of the Gold Coast rail stations south of Beenleigh?

ANSWER:

The Queensland Police Service has a dedicated Railway Squad established within the Specialist Services Branch, Operations Support Command.

The Railway Squad is supervised by an Inspector of Police and is administratively coordinated from a central location at the Roma Street railway station.

The squad has operational teams at Roma Street railway station and four satellite locations (known as outposts) at Beenleigh, Petrie, Manly and Redbank railway stations. There is no specific approved staffing strength at these outposts as they are annexes of the main Roma Street office where all members are officially stationed.

The Minister for Transport and I recently announced an increase of 10 additional police officer positions for the Railway Squad. Five of these additional positions were recently allocated, bringing the approved squad strength to 59 sworn members. The remaining five will be allocated in the 2011/12 financial year, which will bring the squad’s strength to 64 officers.

The staffing model for the Railway Squad includes five non-operational positions (Officer- in-Charge, Tactician, Intelligence Officers and a Crime Prevention Coordinator) as well as a dedicated Firearms and Explosive Detection Dog Handler. Additionally, the squad is staffed by a number of non-sworn administrative assistants and a Police Liaison Officer.

The squad is divided into eight operational teams with a desirable staffing level of five to seven members per team depending on the actual location. At present there are two operational teams, comprising 10 sworn members based at the Beenleigh outpost. These numbers are also supplemented by police from other Railway Squad teams during specific operations or major events as and when required.

The actual strength of the squad fluctuates due to a range of factors including recreation and long service leave; long-term sick leave; temporary secondments to other areas; and vacancies arising from promotions and transfers.

The Queensland Police Service is working closely with to establish a new police outpost at the . Queensland Rail has agreed to undertake the project and fully fund the construction which is anticipated to be completed by mid-2011.

The recently announced allocation of 10 new sworn member positions will supplement the existing strength of the squad and facilitate the establishment of a dedicated operational team to be based at the new Robina outpost.

In the interim, there are two dedicated operational teams based at the Beenleigh railway station which provide a policing capability to incidents and events at railway stations in the South Eastern Region. Policing activity on board passenger trains and at railway stations is also supplemented by other police as required, including regionally based police, Tactical Crime Squads, Queensland Mounted Police and the Dog Squad.

The recently announced increase in the strength of the Police Railway Squad yet again demonstrates this Government’s commitment to protecting our community and providing a safe and secure public transport system. The squad plays an important role in identifying and reducing crime in Queensland, particularly along the Citytrain Network.

The overall rate of crime (offences per 100,000 persons) in Queensland has decreased for the ninth consecutive year. The 2009/10 Queensland Police Service Statistical Review shows a 1 percent decrease in the overall rate of crime, taking the reduction over the 10 years to 28 percent.

The rate of crimes such as other homicide, rape, robbery, unlawful entry, arson, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and possess illegal drugs all decreased.

The rate of property offences has almost halved (48 percent) in the past 10 years, while the rate of offences against the person has decreased by 20 percent.

With respect to offences in the past 10 years within the South Eastern Police Region, the rate of property offences has decreased by 48 percent and the rate of offences against the person has decreased by 16 percent.

These results demonstrate that the strategies being used by this Government and the Queensland Police Service to reduce crime in the community are working.