Community & Business
9 December, 2022
Looking back on 2022 with Sergeant Tim Hoffman
Pittsworth Police Sergeant Tim Hoffman reflect on the year that has been 2022.
As the end of another year is only weeks away, I would like to take this opportunity to provide our residents a review for the last 12 months for the Pittsworth Police Division.
There is no doubt Pittsworth is a vibrant growing community with its attractive friendly lifestyle.
Even though our population is growing and offenders are more mobile than ever, Pittsworth still enjoys a relatively low property crime rate despite what you may read on social media.
Unlawful entry or burglaries (to dwellings) dropped this year from 11 to 7 offences.
This is a great result when compared to the Darling Downs District Country Patrol area which showed an increase in these offences in other Divisions.
Our unlawful entries to shops also remained relatively low dropping from three to two.
It is in our rural areas we were targeted with entry to a lot of rural farming buildings with break and enters to other premises increasing from 13 to 20.
This increase has largely been the result of particular offenders in or around our local area and we have seen numerous arrests in regard to these matters after targeted operations were run in conjunction with other police support agencies.
We can never rest on our laurels though and as I have always said, crime is a community issue which needs to be addressed by the community.
We encourage people, particularly in our rural areas, to take active measures to discourage or disrupt offenders.
It is a fact now these offenders are much more mobile with access to more technology and it is important we keep pace with this trend.
All residents, especially over the holiday periods, should ensure they keep their premises secure, not leave keys in a vehicle or obvious places in the house, install security cameras which are now cheaper and more accessible than ever and report any suspicious activity.
Residents should be alert for the occurrence of such crimes but not alarmed.
We acknowledge that there have been a number of other offences such as wilful damage, public nuisance and thefts being committed by a number of juveniles in recent times and I can assure you police are targeting these people and will take action in accordance with the legislation.
Pittsworth Police have a high number of enforcement actions against juvenile offenders compared to other divisions with 15 cautions, 4 restorative referrals and
3 arrests for offences including assault, stalking, domestic violence, stealing, fraud, wilful damage and public nuisance.
We ask parents to know where your children are and what they are doing.
If they are not doing the right thing then take appropriate parental action.
See the full report in this week's edition of The Pittsworth Sentinel.
