Police Beats ensure the policing needs of local areas are met with a service customised to each individual locality. Beat policing is a strategy designed to make individual police officers responsible for the community’s policing needs in a defined geographical area.*
Police Beat officers provide a proactive service aimed at enriching the community with front line services promoting personal safety and reducing the fear of crime, while establishing a convenient and relaxed environment where people can talk to police. Officers regularly patrol and engage with the community to identify problems and then develop strategies to solve them.
Police Beats aim to:
- reduce crime rates and the number of calls for service
- identify and target local problem areas
- reduce the fear of crime
- to provide a place where local community members can talk with police.
Their are two models of police beats - Neighbourhood Police Beats and the Police Beat Shopfronts.
Neighbourhood Police Beats
Neighbourhood Police Beats provide Queenslanders with an effective policing presence in urban situations. The program was launched in 1993 after the successful pilot of two police beats in Toowoomba. There are currently 46 Neighbourhood Police Beats operating across Queensland.
Police Beat Shopfronts
Police Beat Shopfronts (PBSF) were launched in 1992 and there are currently 48 PBSFs in Queensland. PBFSs aim to provide a policing presence to retailers and shoppers in shopping centres and central business districts.
For more information on Police Beats in your area please see Police Beat Locations.
*Queensland Government. 2007.The Princess Alexandra Hospital Police Beat, an evaluation by the Crime and Misconduct Commission. (accessed 7 May, 2010)
