The Queensland Police Service has been nominated for the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Delivering Education and Social Services category for a Scenes of Crime (SOC) program implemented in Logan.
The Premier’s Awards for Excellence recognise high performance and outstanding achievement across the Queensland public sector.
The Frontline Forensics Project, based on research into Scenes of Crime (SOC) responses to property crimes, especially break and enter offences, saw huge improvements in police response to property crime.
Senior Sergeant Lisa Weller, Officer in Charge of Logan Scenes of Crime, Senior Sergeant Josh White, Capricornia District Forensic Services Coordinator and Inspector Duncan McCarthy, South East Region Forensic Manager, worked on the project for approximately four years, drawing on research from the University of Queensland (UQ) which proved clear benefits to improving SOC responses to break and enter offences.
Implementing this research, Logan’s SOC officers attended crime scenes and committed to spending an extra 30 minutes at each scene to gather forensic evidence and intelligence, as well as engaging with the community to provide crime prevention messaging.
The project resulted in significant time savings in frontline officer responses, as SOC officers used their expertise to investigate break and enters and other property offences.
The project achieved over 96% positive community satisfaction and diverted 87% of break and enter offences from frontline police, while also achieving a 47% increase in fingerprints located at crime scenes.
Logan’s model will now be implemented state-wide and is projected to save over 187,000 frontline police response hours each year.
Senior Sergeant Lisa Weller praised the diligence and work ethic of her officers involved in the trial.
“I am proud that Logan Scenes of Crime and the additional SOC officers who assisted, were able to obtain these incredible results,” she said.
“SOC officers exceeded the project’s expectations.”
“The project team is humbled to receive this nomination and excited that the project will now be adopted throughout Queensland.”
The awards will be announced tonight (March 26).
