The city has been chosen for increased patrols following a recent spate of violent crime that has left one man dead and a woman recovering from gunshot wounds in separate incidents.

A public forum in Toowoomba on Wednesday night, convened in response to the outbreak of extreme violence, heard locals say the city has been under siege for years from young offenders, who harass and rob people at ATMs, carry machetes in the streets, wantonly break into homes, steal cars and damage businesses.

One woman even revealed that she had been raped by a 14-year-old boy who she knows to be back in the community on parole.

Police Minister Mark Ryan and Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard have responded to the community’s anger by allocating a ‘youth co-responder’ team to the besieged city, joining other Queensland youth crime hotspots such as Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Moreton, North Brisbane, Logan and Gold Coast which they say have benefited from the approach.

Launched in mid 2020, the program works to improve community safety by engaging with at-risk youth and young people on court orders at all hours of the day.

The teams undertake various activities including de-escalating and problem solving where groups congregate, transporting youth to safety, and connecting with families and support agencies to help divert youth away from offending.

Linard said the Toowoomba community had asked for the program to be extended to their city.

“The government listened and is acting,” Linard said.

“Preventing crime before it occurs is the most effective way to break the cycle of youth offending, which is why the co-responder teams are so important.

“Speaking with young people at the local park or shopping centre, on the street or in their homes, could very well mean police and youth justice officers won’t have to meet them in the courthouse or the watch house.

“Anything we do to tackle youth crime also needs to consider the causes of crime, which is exactly what the co-responders are doing.”

The State Government has also announced an intensive bail supervision program will be expanded to Toowoomba, a move to help young people comply with their bail conditions and keep them from returning to custody.

Breach of bail is expected to feature prominently when Parliament re-convenes for 2023 next week, and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk introduces her yet to be seen changes to youth crime laws, amid continuing calls from the Opposition for breach of bail to be reinstated and tougher penalties with genuine consequences delivered to young offenders.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli spoke on the Gold Coast on Thursday outside a fruit shop recently targeted by juvenile thieves who reacted violently when caught.

“We have a generation of repeat offenders who don’t believe there are any consequences for their behaviour,” Crisafulli said.

“They know the laws are watered down and that on the back of it that their rights outweigh the rights of the victim.”

Describing the surge in crime as an “epidemic”, Crisafulli called it a “failure of legislation and leadership”, offering another jab at the premier who did not attend the Toowoomba forum last night.

Palaszczuk has reportedly defended her absence on the basis of Queensland being a “huge state” and that she had a “big job” and would visit Queensland’s largest inland city at a future date.

Member for Toowoomba North Trevor Watts said prior to the forum that Palaszczuk had last visited Toowoomba on official business one year ago almost to the day when she opened the Wellcamp quarantine facility.

“Even then she didn’t make it in to town to speak with the community,” he said.

“Premier Palaszczuk is more concerned with the internal wars raging through her own party than the war being waged against innocent Queenslanders by criminals – a war that is playing out on our streets and in our homes.

“A man has lost his life in our community, we have record crime destroying our region and Premier Palaszczuk is so arrogant she won’t even come here and listen.”