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Operation Regional Shield sees a 25 per cent drop in burglary and stolen motor vehicle offences six months in

Cain AndrewsBroome Advertiser
Kimberley police Superintendent Craig Parkin.
Camera IconKimberley police Superintendent Craig Parkin. Credit: Robert Dougherty/North West Telegraph

Kimberley police Superintendent Craig Parkin has given a six-month update on Operation Regional Shield, citing a 25 per cent drop in burglary, stealing and stolen motor vehicle offences.

Police managed to solve 50 per cent of stolen vehicle cases, made 634 arrests, filed 885 charges and identified more than 2000 at-risk youth on the street which police transported home or to a family member.

But Supt. Parkin said the police work was not done and that Operation Regional Shield will continue.

“Operation Regional Shield will continue with additional police resources to be deployed across the Kimberley to compliment local policing efforts,” he said.

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“We would like to thank local communities and visitors to the region for their vigilance to reduce the likelihood of being a victim of crime.”

The WA Police task force was deployed in April to target the increasing youth crime in the region, with extra resources including more than 30 officers provided to the region.

In launching the operation in February, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said police had identified a “disturbing” social media trend known as the TikTok Challenge, which encourages groups of juveniles to ‘better’ one another by increasing the volume and seriousness of criminal offending.

“At this time we’ve had 11 police vehicles rammed by stolen cars. We’ve had stolen cars ram into police buildings, and we’ve had four police officers hospitalised,” he said at the time.

“They are going to kill someone. They are going to kill themselves. I do not want any of my officers seriously injured or killed as a result of this behaviour.

Mr Blanch said police would use “every law available” to pick kids up off the streets and take them to a safe place.

The response comes after a TikTok video surfaced showing two boys, aged 11 and 12, and a 13-year-old girl inside a stolen vehicle that allegedly rammed a police car into a tree in Broome on February 4, injuring two police officers, prompted the response.

It was the latest in a series of police cars being rammed in the crime-plagued Kimberley, with the region’s top cop in September warning it was “only a matter of time” before an officer was seriously injured.

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