On 5 December 1994, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) Metropolitan South Region commenced the West End Police Beat (WEPB) as a pilot project. The WEPB was initially set up by the QPS as an experiment to assess whether beat policing was a viable policing strategy for a busy inner-city suburb.
The overall aim of establishing the project was to provide the citizens of West End with an innovative policing service that is community-based and focused on finding solutions to community problems.
The WEPB was patterned on the "split-force" model. Using this model, the beat officers were assigned to work alongside general duties police. Although the beat officers were fully integrated with the staff at West End Police Station, they were assigned a role with narrowly defined operational responsibilities that clearly distinguished them from ordinary police.
This report presents the findings of the Criminal Justice Commission's (CJC) evaluation of the pilot.
