The drastic steps a vigilante group took to protect their exclusive island neighbourhood

The drastic steps a vigilante group took to protect their exclusive island neighbourhood from a crime spree

  • A canal crime wave is sweeping through an exclusive island neighbourhood
  • Fed-up resident now want to block off the island with a boom gate every night
  • Locals say they are being hit with one break-in or theft every single month 

Residents of an island in the heart of the Gold Coast are so fed up with crime they want to shut their community off with a boom gate.

The handful of luxurious homes on North Quay Drive in Biggera Waters are being hit with at least one theft or break-in every month.

Thieves have targeted Adrian Zulian’s house three times in the past two years – now he’s demanding something be done to stop the canal crime wave.

There are just a handful of luxurious homes on North Quay Drive in Biggera Waters (pictured) but the glitzy area is being hit with at least one theft, unlawful break-in every month

‘We see it all the time here and just want it to stop, it just keeps happening… We have had cars stolen here, houses broken into,’ he told the Gold Coast Bulletin

A number of angry locals have lobbied the council about getting a boom gate installed on the only road onto the island.

Mr Zulian said the police can only do so much, ‘what we want is prevention’.

The local community are also looking into getting CCTV surveillance and even spoke about pitching in to hire a nightly security guard.

The besieged residents living on the exclusive island are not alone when it comes to vigilante tactics.

Residents living on a tiny island in the heart of the Gold Coast are so fed up with crime they want to shut their community off with a boom gate

Residents living on a tiny island in the heart of the Gold Coast are so fed up with crime they want to shut their community off with a boom gate

Homeowners in the surrounding suburbs of Sorrento and Benowa Waters are paying about $250 a year each for nightly security patrols.

In Pimpama area a CCTV footage-sharing system has been set up by a Civilian Response Team.

Locals have even hired a private eye after a cat burglar stole expensive jewellery from a string of homes in Pacific Pines neighbourhood. 

Official figures show cases of unlawful entry in the state of Queensland surged by five per cent to 3976 cases last year.

However, overall theft has declined 21 per cent.

Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said help from the community is vital to preventing crime, but he warned against vigilantism.

A CCTV footage-sharing system has been set up by a Civilian Response Team

Pictured: A suspected thief is seen going door to door and knocking to see who is home

 A CCTV footage-sharing system has been set up by a Civilian Response Team. Pictured: A suspected thief is seen going door to door and knocking to see who is home

‘Nowhere in the world can the police be on every street corner, on every road, in front of every house all time … so the eyes and ears of the community are critical to preventing and solving offences.

‘The issue is when it’s taken a step further and we see behaviour … where people may want to take the law into their hands … and there would be legal ramifications in doing that.’

Supt Wheeler added that a specialist property crime taskforce, code-named Latro, has been established in the area to target thieves.

He said officers actively patrol suburbs using intelligence-driven information.

A man is captured on CCTV footage in Biggera Waters raiding the mail of local residents

A man is captured on CCTV footage in Biggera Waters raiding the mail of local residents