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AAP
AAP
National
Fraser Barton

Specialist police squad to swoop on youth crime areas

Queensland's State Flying Squad is receiving a funding boost to help combat youth crime. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

A state youth crime rapid response unit will be bolstered by the addition of 41 new officers a month after tougher laws were passed.

The Queensland government is injecting $32.4 million across five years to the State Flying Squad, whose officers are deployed to crime hotspots.

Taskforce Guardian has been the centrepiece of Queensland Police's response to youth crime with 17 officers, and the funding commitment will triple that capacity.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli
The increased capacity "puts the rapid in the rapid response", Premier David Crisafulli says. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)

Premier David Crisafulli and the LNP campaigned on a tougher response to crime before the October election.

"This puts the rapid in the rapid response needed for the Queensland Police Service when it comes to hot issues as they are burning across this state," he told reporters on Sunday.

In December the government passed controversial "adult crime, adult time" youth justice laws that allow tougher sentences on young offenders.

The laws increase jail sentences for serious youth offenders, with children as young as 10 facing a life sentence for offences such as murder, manslaughter and grievous bodily harm.

An Office of the Public Guardian report tabled to parliament last week shows the number of children aged 13 or younger in state adult watch houses has increased by 50 per cent in 12 months.

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