Murgon residents 'at breaking point' during end-of-year crime spike
Oriel Macpherson has installed locks on every window and door of her house. (ABC Southern Qld: Kemii Maguire)
In short:
The South Burnett Regional Council has held several town halls in the past month about the crime rate in Murgon.
Queensland Police launched a week-long tactical operation in Murgon last week in response to community concerns.
What's next?
Indigenous elders and the local community services group say young offenders need guidance, structure and rehabilitation.
Oriel Macpherson keeps a key around her neck for the locks she has installed on every window and door in her house.
"I feel like I'm living in a prison," Ms Macpherson said.
The 65-year-old pensioner and her son were asleep in their home in Murgon, a regional Queensland town 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, when a group of young men smashed through the windows and entered the house, searching for car keys.
"My son is 25 and he's autistic and he was assaulted, they were bashing him with a PVC pipe and a metal pipe and they wanted the keys," Ms Macpherson said.
Oriel Macpherson wears her house key around her neck after two break-ins. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
She said the encounter in May left him so shaken that he hasn't spoken since.
"He has selective mutism and now he doesn't speak at all, doesn't go out of the house,"she said.
Ms Macpherson spent close to $2,000 on security measures including CCTV cameras but just last month, they were broken into again.
"They broke in through the door, they broke the lock and they came inside the house," she said.
Ms Macpherson said her experience was not unique and the community was terrified.
"We can't even do things like look at Christmas lights because we're too scared ... in public," she said.
A group of young men broke the windows at Oriel Macpherson's house. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
End-of-year crime spike
Queensland Police say the rate of offending in Murgon this year is lower than previous years but acknowledged there has been a spike in recent months.
Police conducted a week-long operation in Murgon in response to community concerns about crime. (ABC Southern Qld: Kemii Maguire)
Last year there were 62 offences in Murgon in October and 48 offences in November, which jumped to 103 offences in December.
This year there were 60 offences in October and 84 in November, the majority of which were property offences.
From December 8 to 15 police conducted a week-long tactical operation in Murgon in direct response to community concerns about crime.
Assistant Commissioner for the Southern Region Matthew Vanderbyl said 49 people had been charged with 202 offences during the operation, including break-ins, stolen cars and drug and traffic offences.
"When we do receive concerns about perceptions or real spikes in crime, we will surge into that area and we'll continue to stay there until we think that it's appropriate for us to return to our normal business-as-usual operations," Assistant Commissioner Vanderbyl said.
Operation Martello involved the State Flying Squad, local police and tactical units working in Murgon for a week. (ABC Southern Qld: Kemii Maguire)
He said the end-of-year crime surge happened every year, particularly around school holidays.
Darling Downs Superintendent Doug McDonald said 13 of the people charged in the operation were minors.
"So we're still talking majority adults that are being charged for these types of offences but what we are seeing that is troubling to us is that it is a lot of the juveniles that are committing this violent offending," he said.
Community at breaking point
The Murgon community has come together several times in the past month to discuss the problem, in meetings organised by the South Burnett Regional Council.
Mayor Kathy Duff said residents were at breaking point.
"I've actually had people contact me in the middle of the night … and say they're scared," Ms Duff said.
Ms Duff is calling on the Queensland government to impose harsher bail conditions and stronger sentencing to stop the cycle of reoffending.
"We've raised an alert with the government to let them know that the "adult crime adult time" [policy] hasn't worked here in Murgon and Cherbourg," she said.
"The judges keep letting the kids back out … it's like a revolving door."
Kathy Duff has held several town meetings in Murgon about the crime rate. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
Queensland's Attorney-General and local MP Deb Frecklington said she had spoken to the police minister and the premier about the situation in Murgon.
She said in the past 12 months the Crisafulli government had tightened juvenile crime laws to "ensure these kids are dealt with properly".
"That's exactly why we've implemented wanding and Jack's Law," Ms Frecklington said.
Jack's Law gives police the power to randomly search people for a weapon without a warrant in a public place.
Ms Frecklington said the government would continue to work on bail laws to give the justice system the resources it needed.
First Nations justice director from the Human Rights Law Centre Maggie Munn said the Queensland government's "punitive" laws and policies harm Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in particular.
"We've seen the numbers of First Nations children across both the cities and rural and regional areas in Queensland and our kids are hugely over-represented," they said.
"Laws like this pipeline children into the criminal legal system and don’t do anything to address the root causes of offending behaviour."
Elders say support needed
Murgon has a population of 2,200 and has close ties to the neighbouring town of Cherbourg, formerly a reserve where Aboriginal people were forcibly resettled.
The Indigenous population in Murgon is 12 per cent, four times the national average.
In Cherbourg, Indigenous elders and traditional owners have formed a crime prevention group in response to the latest wave.
They meet at the courthouse and talk to Aboriginal families affected by crime.
Frank Malone is part of the Barambah Local Justice Group in Cherbourg. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
Elder Frank Malone said the actions of young offenders were "disappointing and disrespectful" but that the children were lacking support and structure.
"If you haven't got strong families … some of them [children] will struggle with making choices,"he said.
"You've got to look at the disabilities some of these children have, their cognitive skills and their understanding of what they're doing [is affected] because so many are affected by alcohol and drugs."
Resident Lucille Jerome said she was "fearful" about how the rising tensions in Murgon would affect young Indigenous people, including those who have committed offences.
Lucille Jerome is worried the crime surge will escalate racial tensions. (ABC Southern Qld: Grace Nakamura)
"I don't condone what they do but I am concerned for them too because they are Indigenous children," Ms Jerome said.
"I've said to these young children that they've got to stop because they're going to hurt themselves or hurt someone that has nothing to do with this."
Early intervention programs
Back in Murgon, the community service organisation South Burnett CTC is gearing up for a 16-month program for disengaged young people that includes events like laser skirmish, beekeeping classes and pool parties.
It is part of the Crisafulli government's $115 million investment in early intervention programs to deter anti-social behaviour.
"If we can have some organised structured activities, good supervision, linking them with role models and skills they can use to further themselves," chief executive Jason Erbacher said.
"When we grow up, we all need to be accountable for our decisions and we need to help our young people make good decisions as well."