Offenders feeling the heat

High harm offenders have been the target of our policing efforts in recent weeks and I’m pleased to say we’ve seen some great results.

We’re into week three of Operation HeatShield2 in Geraldton and we have seen a number of people charged with 114 offences.

Offences have included fraud, burglaries, stolen vehicles, drug offences and bail breaches.

In my last column, I wrote this operation was launched in response to an unwelcome rise in burglaries over the past two months and we’re making progress, not only on the burglary offences, but on other offences that affect our community.

So far, Heatshield officers have preferred 12 charges for burglaries, 13 for stealing and seven charges of stealing motor vehicles, and we’re expecting that number to climb as our investigations continue forward.

The extra funding given to Geraldton police has allowed us to free up officers to concentrate on stopping these offences early.

In my view we’ve had some great successes with Operation Heatshield2, our officers are focused on tackling these offenders and it’s an advantage having my officers apprehend offenders quickly.

Further to our operation, our volume crime team recently dealt with three teenagers over a series of burglaries in Woorree in January and early February where a car was stolen and later found burnt out in Utakarra.

It’s disappointing to see our youth from Geraldton offending and our goal is to work with these children to get them back on the right track.

With a whole government approach, which includes our youth policing officers, we have had success engaging with youth and their families.

While any offending hurts our community, it’s important to remember that vulnerable people, including youth, need guidance and police, actively assist our youth in steering them in the right direction.

Operation Heatshield2 continues into next week, and we continue our resolve to targeting those in our community who are causing us harm.

We know where our trouble areas are and will focus our policing efforts towards these known hotspots.