A new police taskforce targeting repeat and young offenders in northern Tasmania has been launched to help drive down crime rates in the region.
Taskforce Raven will be based out of Launceston and will operate “very similarly” to Hobart’s successful Taskforce Saturate, Northern Commander Marco Ghedini said.
“The taskforce is not about going out with an autocratic approach, however it will be a group dedicated to ensuring that we’re focusing our attention on the right people,” he said.
“We’ll be firm in that approach and we’ll make no apologies for being firm in that approach, but it will be a fair and measured response to address a number of community concerns.”
The taskforce won’t focus on specific crime categories but will adapt to emerging issues, using intelligence from the public to decide its priorities.
“What we do know is that there are only a small percentage of people in our population that are responsible for the majority of offending across the region,” Ghedini said.
“We’re looking at total offending across the board, antisocial behaviour and recidivist offenders.”
Police Minister Felix Ellis said the community is “fed up” with seeing the same individuals commit crimes.
“Career criminals pose a significant risk … so with dedicated task-forces like these, we’re able to hold those people to account,” he said.
“The focus on people that continue to do the wrong thing in our community or who might be released on bail is absolutely critical to addressing the concerns of the community.”