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Key focus area—Crime prevention and community partnerships Drug and alcohol initiatives The Service continued to investigate and address the links between drugs, alcohol, substance misuse and violence. Partnerships with other government departments, non-government agencies and the community are aimed at implementing strategies to reduce alcohol and drug-related harm. Specialist court programs The aim of these programs is to help suitably motivated drug or alcohol offenders overcome their problematic drug or alcohol use and end their associated criminal behaviour. The QPS is an important partner in many of these programs: Drug Court Program The Drug Court Program is a Queensland Government funded initiative aimed at drug dependent offenders with a long criminal history. Adult offenders who would otherwise be facing imprisonment for non-violent offences are offered the option of rehabilitation and are sentenced to an Intensive Drug Rehabilitation Order. The offender is re-sentenced following their successful or unsuccessful completion of the rehabilitation program which generally lasts for 18 months. The Drug Court Program is an initiative designed to break the link between drug use and crime. The Queensland Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program The Queensland Indigenous Alcohol Diversion Program (QIADP) is designed to address Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice and child protection systems. The criminal justice stream of QIADP is a pre-sentence bail based diversion program for defendants whose alcohol misuse is related to their offending. Under the voluntary program, eligible people are placed in individual treatment and case management programs lasting up to 20 weeks. The program provides treatment places in districts in three regions including Cairns which has 40 treatment places; Townsville which has 50 treatment places; and Rockhampton which has 40 treatment places. The pilot will continue until 30 June 2010. The Queensland Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment Program (QMERIT) QMERIT is a pre-sentence bail based program which refers defendants into treatment and rehabilitation for 3 – 4 months prior to sentencing. Successful completion of the program should result in a mitigation of penalty. QMERIT targets illicit drug offenders whose drug use has contributed to their offending and generally excludes offences of serious personal violence and of a sexual nature. The pilot will continue until 30 June 2010. Alcohol Court Diversion Program The Alcohol Court Diversion Program is an eight week pre-sentence bail-based court program for adults and young people who have been charged with an alcohol related offence and admitted guilt. A twelve month pilot program commenced in the Caloundra Magistrates Court in April 2009. Police Drug Diversion Program The Police Drug Diversion Program aims to modify the behaviour of persons found in possession of up to 50 grams of cannabis and/or utensils and with little or no past contact with the criminal justice system. During 2008-09 diversion was offered to over 6 000 people throughout Queensland. A compliance rate of about 80% for those attending assessment and education programs has been achieved. Liquor and minors Underage drinking is associated with a range of problems that require police attention. Amendments to the Liquor Act 1992 now further restrict the supply of liquor to minors on private premises. Any person other than a responsible adult who supplies liquor to a minor at a private place is now breaking the law. As at 30 June 2009, five charges have been preferred against adults who have supplied liquor to minors under the new laws. New police powers under subsection 53A of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 also allow police to seize alcohol that has the potential to cause harm to minors or that is being recklessly provided to minors. Police can confiscate alcohol in cars and private and public places, and dispose of alcohol they reasonably suspect is destined for unsupervised consumption by minors. Output 1: Community Safety and Engagement With honour we serve 33
Party Safe The Party Safe initiative has continued to provide information and resources for the community to ensure people are informed about how to hold a successful, enjoyable and safe party. Up to the end of June 2009 over 23 000 brochures and 2 700 posters have been distributed. Non-reusable Party Safe wristbands were introduced in 2008 with over 90 000 distributed throughout Queensland so far. These wristbands assist in identifying uninvited guests at parties. The Party Safe information is also available on the QPS internet site, with an average of just under 500 registration forms downloaded each month in 2008-09. During this reporting period almost 6 000 parties have been registered with police. One Punch Can Kill The One Punch Can Kill campaign goes hand-inhand with the Queensland Police Service’s Party Safe initiative. The campaign seeks to help young people, particularly men between the ages of 15 and 25, to realise that a split-second decision to engage in violence can have enormous consequences. The One Punch Can Kill slogan is a reminder that a simple act of violence can ruin many lives. The campaign also targets girls and women with the slogan ‘I support blokes who don’t fight’. This campaign is supported by key community groups including the Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group and the Matthew Stanley Foundation. Since 2 February 2008, more than 31 000 people have visited the ‘One Punch Can Kill’ website (www. onepunchcankill.qld.gov.au), resulting in over 177 000 page requests. The online game on the website has been played 6 000 times. Additionally, over 6 900 people have joined the campaign supporters’ group on Facebook. Online advertising has reached more than one million users with the advertisements appearing 19.4 million times on MySpace, Facebook, Yahoo and Hotmail. The outdoor inflatable display has been used at more than 20 events, exposing the campaign to tens of thousands in the target age group. Drug detection The Brisbane Dog Squad provided drug detection support to operational police in all parts of Queensland. The Drug Detection Dog Unit attended 586 jobs and conducted 389 searches during the financial year, which resulted in significant seizures of drugs, firearms and property. The Drug Detection Dog Unit is assisting with Operation ‘Weed it out’. (More on page 41). This initiative has been developed in partnership with North Queensland Indigenous communities and targets drug use in these communities. Crime prevention initiatives Community safety and crime prevention The QPS provides funding for crime prevention projects across the State through the Community Crime Prevention Fund. The Fund supports partnerships between the QPS and community groups to develop local responses to local problems. In 2008-09 a diverse range of projects were funded including: • Red Dust Healing (Central Region) targeted at members of the Indigenous community in Woorabinda with a focus on anti-social behaviour, interpersonal violence, wilful damage, sexual offences and family violence. The success of the program is highlighted by a very low rate of reoffending among the participants. • Burglar Beware (North Coast Region) which involves an intense media campaign aimed primarily at burglars rather than the traditional campaigns that target the victim. The intended message to burglars includes that they are being watched by the community; and the consequences of their actions. (More on page 56). • School Crime Stoppers Signs (South East Region) which were installed at 113 State and private schools across the Gold Coast and Logan police districts. They aim to encourage primary and secondary school students to report crime and safety concerns to Crime Stoppers. • Love Bites (Southern Region) aimed directly at high school students in the Toowoomba community to tackle family violence and prevent sexual assault, while addressing gender stereotypes and encouraging young people to seek help from friends and local service providers. The campaign is currently in an evaluation phase but promotion continues through the website, Facebook and the inflatable display. 34 With honour we serve Output 1: Community Safety and Engagement
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