Carnarvon damage offences drop up to 75 per cent after extra police resources sent to Gascoyne town

Burglary, stealing and damage offences have dramatically dropped in Carnarvon, according to the district’s top cop, after extra resources were directed to the Gascoyne town to combat violence, crime and anti-social behaviour. Mid West Gascoyne Police Superintendent Steve Post said burglary and stealing offences in Carnarvon had dropped by 20-25 per cent in the past three months of 2022, compared to the three months prior. Meanwhile damage offences – including rock throwing which has been prolific in the town – had plummeted by 70-75 per cent between November and December last year. Supt Post reassured the community police were prioritising the issues in Carnarvon with highly visible and less obvious resources, including plain-clothes officers and detectives. “The Carnarvon community may have seen a doubling of normal resources in recent months, some highly visible and apparent, and others may have noticed the presence of plain-clothes officers and detectives, particularly those who have been charged as a result of offending,” he said. “We’ve (also) had firearm and drug officers in town conducting searches and investigations and sex offender management officers in town doing no-notice checks. “Drone pilots came up from Perth as well as in the district and are helping us to apprehend people who may have otherwise skipped the back fence.” Supt Post said with extra resources police had been able to “target those offenders causing the highest harm to the community and deal with them either through arrest or engagement with family that has resulted in reduced youth offending in the town.” He said visible policing in Carnarvon would “continue as long as the community and local police require them”. Supt Post said additional youth policing officers were working with disengaged youth in community activities, including barbecues held at the fascine and Mingallah Village, “shooting hoops” with youth and holding blue light discos through PCYC. Supt Post said after seeing positive results in recent weeks, movie nights in conjunction with the Shire and bike repair programs were other events that would be regularly held in Carnarvon. “We’ve seen a decrease in crime as a result of these efforts,” he said. “It’s all about keeping the kids engaged and entertained, that’s why we get involved in those programs. Bored children can sometimes get themselves into trouble, but if we keep them entertained and engaged they’re more likely to behave and less likely to offend.” Supt Post said police would continue to push resources in Carnarvon and monitor the situation. “We’ve received positive feedback from the community. They don’t realise there is a lack of offending but they’ve certainly told us they’ve noticed an increased presence of police,” he said. Carnarvon Shire president Eddie Smith said he’d “absolutely” noticed an increase in police presence in recent weeks, but said it wasn’t a permanent solution. “There has been quite an increase of police and it has made an impact upon the crime, but it will only be a short-term fix while they’re here,” he said. “A lot more thought must go into how to reduce this youth crime and elevate the issue altogether.” Cr Smith said there was a need for the right people to work with families and disengaged youth to teach them there was a better way to lead their lives. “It appears the police are doing a great job and they always have. Numbers do help but it doesn’t fix the core issue, that’s something that needs to be addressed and it’s going to take quite some resources and time to do,” he said. North West Central MLA Merome Beard said she was disappointed with the State Government after not receiving a response to her letter inviting the Premier to visit the crime-affected town. “The Premier, Police Minister and new Minister for Communities still have time to act and assure the people of Carnarvon that the McGowan Labor Government, despite their lack of action, cares about them,” she said.