Two of Logan City’s shopping centres have been named as places which attract criminal activity.
In recent years the Hyperdome has been the centre of dramatic ram raid where a car was driven through the food court, the discovery of a gun in a toilet and an incident where a man was shot in front of children.
And the retail precinct in the heart of Beenleigh has long been the subject of complaints about drug addicts and other “undesirables’’ scaring off customers.
In July, last year, there were seven police incidents in the precinct in a week, including the ram raid of a jewellery store.
The final straw came in February this year when three people walked into a newly-opened tobacco and vaping store on the main street and threatened staff with a gun.
That prompted more than 150 people to meet with local politicians to discuss ways to improve the area.
Police have denied there’s a crime problem but some local businesses claim otherwise, citing an exodus of more than 20 small operators in two years.
Both the Hyperdome and Beenleigh shopping centres have CCTV cameras and security guards, but that doesn’t seem to deter offenders.
Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy, a former police detective, said shopping centres are hot spots for crime.
A view of Beenleigh Rds. (Photo used with permission).
“They’re a target rich environment. If you’re talking about stealing cars, there’s plenty of them at shopping centres. They’re unattended, etcetera ,and if there are offenders making that decision to commit an offence at a shopping centre and that is what kind of offence they’re going to commit and what level of guardianship is there. And by guardianship, I’m talking about shopping centres where you have security, CCTV, how well is the centre managed? and how motivated are they? And if those things aren’t present there’s suitable victims in terms of cars or people, etcetera, if they’re looking to commit “snatch and grabs” then the offence will happen.”
Associate Professor Goldsworthy adds that research shows that when police have shop fronts at shopping centres more crime is recorded.
“That’s because people are more prepared to report crime because police are actually on site. So, it doesn‘t necessarily mean that there’s not more crime happening at another shopping centre, it’s just not getting recorded”.
He adds that if you have a tavern or hotel attached to a shopping centre you’re more likely to see assaults and other violent crimes, such as sexual assaults in toilets.
He has said shopping centres generally reflect the community surrounding them.
“So if you have a shopping centre in an area which has high crime levels then that shopping centre, itself, will just reflect the socio-economic ,the crime area it’s in.
