Where are Brisbane’s crime hotspots, and why? See how your suburb fares
By Cloe Read
You may go into a new suburb where the yards are overgrown, there’s litter on the ground, and graffiti on the fences.
There’s a feeling of being unsafe.
Or, on Facebook, you see people posting CCTV footage of suspected criminals in your area. There’s instant concern.
Police are also combatting an increase in online crime, including on Facebook Marketplace, where offenders target homes where valuable goods are being sold. Credit: Dan Peled
Dr Renee Zahnow, from the University of Queensland, says these are judgments we make when we’re unable to see crime happening ourselves.
Our perception of crime is often fed to us through politicians, the news, and word of mouth.
And when we’re unable to see a crime happening in real time, we jump to other conclusions.
“People think places are criminogenic if they’re low socio-economic and disorderly. If it looks pretty and they see people behaving in a quiet, well-mannered way, and people who look like them, they think there’s low crime,” Zahnow explains.
But, despite Queensland Police looking to recruit overseas, University of Southern Queensland criminology professor Lauren Humby says more police is not the answer to combat crime.
“One of the difficulties with Australia is our vast land. There has always been an issue policing Australia because we simply do not have the number of police to be everywhere at once,” she says.
“Suburbs that may be more criminogenic are already likely to have a problematic view of police.
“Giving police more power is only going to further entrench this perception of police as unfriendly and forceful. The better approach would be for police to build rapport in their community and facilitate open and honest communication with locals about crime and justice.”
What causes crime, and where is it most likely to happen?
Criminal activity, Zahnow explains, is most likely to happen around “crime generators” – areas with a lot of people or traffic. For example, a train station or a stadium.
There are theories, she says, that anyone can be an offender if given the right opportunity.
“Some people who aren’t motivated to offend, in these sorts of situations, there are really easy things you can get away with because there’s the anonymity of the crowd,” she says.
“If the chances of getting caught are so low and the attractiveness of the target is high enough, people will do it.”
This is evident in supermarkets, where cameras have been installed in self-serve checkouts to prevent people stealing items or scanning them at lower prices.
“It’s that sense that ‘nobody can see me’ that makes people feel like they can just get away with things,” she says.
On a larger scale, this can be seen in teenagers walking down streets, testing each car to see if it’s unlocked.
“A lot of the stuff with car theft here in Australia is really opportunistic. If you lock your car, you’re going to be pretty safe.
“People saying juvenile crime is out of control, a lot of it is ... they might walk along the street trying [car] door handles. They’ll find one that’s been unlocked, and they’ll try [to steal it].
“Or they get in the garage and the keys are left right there on the bench, or right next to the vehicle.
“A lot of it is facilitated by our behaviours. I’m not saying that’s OK – it’s never OK, they definitely should not be doing it – ... but there are things we can do to make it more difficult.”
Zahnow says people who live in lower socio-economic areas are more likely to travel to wealthy areas to steal cars, for example.
“The train line is particularly problematic because – obviously, in terms of car theft – people can travel along, jump off, and steal a car ... That’s why we see vehicle theft higher in stations along the train line.”
“The train line is particularly problematic because ... people can travel along, jump off, and steal a car.”
Dr Renee Zahnow
Brisbane’s highest number of stolen cars between August 8, 2022, and August 7 this year was in Inala, at 104, followed by Forest Lake at 93.
On the northside, Clayfield and Hendra had the highest number of stolen cars at 56 and 55 respectively.
During the same period across all of Brisbane, police listed a total of more than 103,000 offences. These included a range of crimes, such as fraud, arson, robbery, prostitution, plus weapon and traffic offences.
What happens in these ‘criminogenic’ suburbs?
Zahnow says these suburbs can become stigmatised in the media because of a particular demographic group.
Many people of African appearance suffered as the result of a 2018 Liberal Party campaign that claimed there was an African crime crisis in Melbourne.Credit: Victoria Police
“In the past, we’ve had issues with stigmatised groups like African gangs – that was a real problem in Melbourne, and these areas, where there might be a large proportion of particular groups, become stigmatised.
“There are also incidences where we have a moral panic or a staining effect. One incident can have a staining effect, where a suburb becomes known for that.
“If it’s a major event, the implications are long-lasting.”
The obscure way governments have tried to prevent crime
One way councils and communities will actively try to improve the perception of crime in a suburb is through regeneration.
It’s been done in Mango Hill, north of Brisbane, where part of the suburb became North Lakes, and in the south-west, where a large chunk of Inala was rebadged as Forest Lake.
“If you ask people living in North Lakes if they live in Mango Hill, they refuse to admit it,” Zahnow says.
“People who live in Forest Lake, if you tell them they live in Inala, they’ll be very upset.
“The regeneration and rebadging of sections is sort of how you get around it, because it actually does really impact how people think about places.”
But Zahnow says regeneration can be problematic because it pushes up the cost of living in those areas.
“It’s about pushing out those [problematic] people,” she says. “They regenerate and redevelop, and that pushes up the cost of living, so it pushes out particular problem people. That’s what the thought process is.
“The people who don’t mow their yards, the people who don’t look after things, they are pushed out.”
How are police handling crime?
Train commuters or those in Fortitude Valley and other Safe Night Precincts may have noticed police “wanding” people lately, in a bid to crack down on knife crime.
Queensland police are increasingly using metal detection wands to scan for knives and other weapons.Credit: Queensland Police Service
Police are regularly stationed at problematic transport hubs and in party precincts to randomly scan people to confiscate knives and other weapons.
In South Bank, two people were allegedly stabbed at the station after a confrontation in June, while Lauie Tagaloa was allegedly stabbed to death at Fortitude Valley station last year.
A complicating factor for police remains the livestreaming or sharing of crimes, particularly among young people, who film themselves stealing luxury cars or committing other crimes, such as stealing pet cats.
Officers are working thousands of hours of overtime as part of high-visibility patrols. They’re also co-responding with youth justice workers, patrolling the streets together.
Humby says such collaborations help bridge the divide, challenge misconceptions, and encourage communication between young people and police.
“Young people commonly see police in a negative light, describing them as unfriendly, disrespectful, intimidating and threatening,” she says.
“Similarly, police often have negative attitudes towards young people, which can impact their interactions.”
Police are also combatting an increase in online crime, including on Facebook Marketplace, where offenders target homes for valuable goods.