Mayor wants to give crims the boot

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale.

Claudia Baxter

Poll

Do you support Paul Pisasale's comments on crime?

This poll ended on 18 March 2011.

Yes

91%

No

8%

This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

IPSWICH Mayor Paul Pisasale sparked controversy on Wednesday when he suggested police should be allowed to rough up criminals.

He made the comments at a rowdy public forum on law and order held in Brisbane by talkback radio station 4BC.

About 300 people attended 4BC’s Your Right to Feel Safe forum yesterday afternoon, during which Queensland Attorney-General Cameron Dick was jeered and heckled by onlookers.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale did his bit to add fuel to the fire.

“Sometimes I feel like turning the (street security) cameras off and letting the police do their job with a number nine boot,” he told the forum. “But then the media would have a field day.”

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts, who also spoke at the forum, told reporters Mr Pisasale’s comments were not appropriate.

“Police work in a very tough environment and they deal with physical aggression, people full of alcohol, full of drugs. They need to behave appropriately,” he said.

However, police union president Ian Leavers commended Mr Pisasale for making Ipswich a very safe place.

“I share his thoughts, but we’re in 2010. I can’t add any more to that,” he said.

The forum was hosted by 4BC drive-time presenter Michael Smith, who presented Mr Dick to a fired-up audience immediately after three people had spoken of their trauma as victims of violence.

Mr Dick was heckled by the crowd after saying research showed that 94 per cent of Queenslanders felt safe in their homes.

Some cried “shame, shame”, while others yelled “stop patronising us” and “you’re a bloody joke”.

After the conference, Mr Dick said it was difficult to get through to the crowd at times because some people were “very loud and raucous”.

However, he said he was proud to be part of a government that had reduced overall crime by 21 per cent in 10 years.

Mr Dick said he would follow up on one protester’s calls for consistent penalties across all states.