Top cop says Townsville's young offenders target his officers 'for fun'
www.abc.net.au
Dozens of extra police from across Queensland will be deployed to Townsville over the coming days in a bid to stop the city's spiralling crime problem.

We will be out there in force and we will put every available resource at our disposal to hunt these people down."

Operation Capella has been established which will see 40 officers dedicated to catching the people responsible, with resources coming from the far north and south-east Queensland to bolster numbers.

"We've got a cohort of people we've identified as potential suspects," he said.

"We haven't got them all so we're in the process of gaining evidence, rattling a few cages and getting more evidence, then locking more people up."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-08/more-police-to-curb-townsville-crime-spree/100442686

Professor Hommel said locking children up in prisons was not the answer.

"Not only does it not work, it increases the crime rate," he said.

"You put a whole bunch of anti-social kids together in detention, they teach each other new skills.

"[In Australia historically] they have not received the treatment and support programs they need."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-14/bowen-crash-that-killed-bailey-pini-latest-stolen-car-incident/100213416

https://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/indigenous-policy