Herald 20190115
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Community wants action<br />
on juvenile crime<br />
By MILES NOLLER<br />
A spate of house break-ins and<br />
car thefts in the Toowoomba region<br />
in recent months has prompted a<br />
Cotswold Hills resident to establish<br />
a group to counter the young<br />
criminals.<br />
It was on New Year’s Eve<br />
that Corby Orford was viewing<br />
information on crimes, car thefts and<br />
break-ins principally, and she said<br />
she saw the need to do something.<br />
“It was all very negative,” she<br />
said because it was portraying<br />
Toowoomba as dangerous. And<br />
that was not my experience of<br />
Toowoomba,” Corby said.<br />
So in two weeks, she has<br />
established a social media page<br />
“Toowoomba Crime Solutions and<br />
Suggestions group” which now<br />
has more than 1000 followers,<br />
and organised two meetings for<br />
community members.<br />
The first was attended by more<br />
than 20 people including police<br />
crime prevention officers, Member<br />
for Toowoomba South David<br />
Janetzki, and Cr Geoff McDonald.<br />
At a second meeting, on Saturday,<br />
the dozen or so people who attended<br />
represented a wide range of people,<br />
some who had personal experience<br />
of broken families, abusive parents,<br />
drug taking and crime.<br />
Corby Orford said she has<br />
now recognised three big issues<br />
- establishing stronger families,<br />
establishing strong neighbourhoods,<br />
and coping with a lenient judicial<br />
system.<br />
The meeting discussed the matter<br />
of courts releasing offenders with<br />
a caution or even police releasing<br />
offenders with a caution so the case<br />
was “closed.”<br />
“It doesn’t help to reduce crime,”<br />
said Trevor Watts who is the<br />
opposition spokesman for Police<br />
and Corrective Services.<br />
One spoke about the need for<br />
young people to be mentored, and<br />
the opportunities that groups such as<br />
Scouts and Cadets could provide for<br />
many young people.<br />
Another said some parents could<br />
not afford the money required to<br />
send a child to a gymnasium or other<br />
sporting programs.<br />
Mr Watts said most juveniles<br />
who broke into homes wanted to<br />
find cash, drugs or car keys. Most<br />
of these young people were caught<br />
because they crashed the car.<br />
It was agreed that home owners<br />
needed to take more responsibility<br />
in securing keys and valuables.<br />
Re-establishing Neighbourhood<br />
Watch groups was also thought a<br />
good way to both reduce crime, and<br />
strengthen community areas. A more<br />
modern form of Neighbourhood<br />
Watch would be appropriate.<br />
Member for Toowoomba North Trevor Watts and Corby Orford, with two of the people who attended a community meeting on juvenile<br />
crime in Toowoomba on Saturday, Tiana, left, and Marion, right. Tiana said she lived in Meringandan West and Highfields before moving<br />
to Toowoomba East, and Toowoomba East was far worse. Trevor Watts who had lived in Kleinton said shortly after moving to Toowoomba<br />
East, property was stolen. Corby Orford said she was in a group of 90 residents at Cotswold Hills who acted like a Neighbourhood Watch<br />
group, looking out for each other, and everything unusual was noticed, and Marion of Wilsonton said she is also in a group of residents who<br />
helped and protected one another,and acted on suspicious behaviour.<br />
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HIGH COUNTRY HERALD - JANUARY 15, 2019 - 3
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