Central Queensland police have implored the community to leave investigations of youth crime to authorities, after two people were charged following a large protest.
An angry mob of nearly 100 people gathered at the doorsteps of alleged criminals and demanded police take action in Rockhampton on Sunday, amid the spiralling youth crime in the city.
The group were led by kickboxer turned One Nation candidate, Torin O’Brien.
The protesters massed in Central Park in North Rockhampton and surrounded two homes, banging on windows and doors, leading to two people being charged with trespass offences.
‘I 100 per cent understand people are frustrated and they’re angry,’ Detective Inspector Luke Peachey told reporters on Thursday.
An angry mob of nearly 100 people gathered at the doorsteps of alleged criminals and demanded police take action in Rockhampton on Sunday. Torin O’Brien (pictured front left) organised the protest
‘I’m a resident here too, I’ve lived here for 25 years now – it disgusts me some of the behaviour going on now with our property offences.
‘But the last thing we can have is untrained people going around and trying to take matters into their own hands.’
Insp Peachey said that at one stage, four people jumped into the back yard of someone’s home.
‘Already we’ve charged two of those people with trespass, so the messaging out there is ‘Leave it up to police’,’ he said.
‘By all means have your peaceful protests, but if you’re detected committing an offence, then you will be charged.’
Within minutes, swarms of police arrived at the street, with one of the vigilantes sarcastically saying he had never seen the police arrive so quickly.Â
A police officer negotiated with Mr O’Brien until about 3.30pm before the crowd moved to another suburb, Berserker, followed by police.
The leaders again knocked on doors and spoke to residents, while others watched on, many filming the proceedings on their phones.
The group then moved on to a third address before returning to the house they first visited in Norman Gardens.
About 4pm Mr O’Brien told everyone to go home and that he would meet the police to discuss the issue in the coming days.
But some people refused to leave, demanding immediate action.
The group of concerned residents knocked on the doors of those they think are responsible for theft and other crimes in their area, leading to a tense stand-off with police (pictured)
This led to the arrival of more police, with dogs, with more than a dozen officers and eight police vehicles at the tense scene.
Police issued a ‘move on’ direction, effective immediately and lasting for 12 hours.
The remaining 18 protestors left at that point, rather than facing getting arrested for ignoring the direction.
Insp Peachey said he understood the community’s frustration, but vigilantism would not ease tensions.
‘We’ve got a designated property team working 24/7 trying to detect these offences and trying to bring them before custody,’ he said.
‘The last thing we need to do is be taking resources away from them to go and investigate good people who have become angry and started committing offences.’
