It's only a matter of time before an innocent member of the public gets killed or injured in the organised crime wave spilling onto the streets of the Gold Coast, the Queensland Police Union warns.
With community concern running high after five shootings in less than two months, the Gold Coast's reputation as a safe place to holiday has taken a battering.
Three people, including detective Damian Leeding, have been shot dead on the tourist strip since May 29 while two other people have been shot and wounded.
Advertisement: Story continues below
The Queensland Police Union says the Gold Coast has cemented its position as Australia's crime capital and needs a massive injection of officers to make Queensland's second largest city safe again.
Union president Ian Leavers says police know organised crime lords and outlaw bikie gangs have dug in on the Gold Coast but officers are so stretched they can't take effective action.
But Premier Anna Bligh is confident Taskforce Resolve, a new serious and violent crime squad set up after Det Leeding's murder, will address the situation.
"What is clear is that we have some issues with crime on the Gold Coast that potentially involve gangs and organised crime," she told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.
"The sort of incidents we're seeing there are completely unacceptable on the streets of a city like the Gold Coast.
"I am very confident we're going to see major arrests out of this taskforce."
She said the streets of the Gold Coast had to be safe for everyone, and hoped its reputation as a holiday destination wasn't being tarnished.
"It is a big tourist city and that means that like some other places, like Kings Cross (in Sydney), it can often attract some very undesirable elements."
In the latest killing Colin Edgar Lutherborrow, 36, was shot dead in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
A security guard found him dying from a gunshot wound on Hooker Boulevard at Broadbeach about 2.40am (AEST).
Police dismissed reports he was gunned down in a gangland execution because of links to underage prostitution.
"We have not found any evidence whatsoever that the victim was involved in luring underage children into prostitution, and no evidence the victim is a pedophile," Regional Crime Coordinator Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson said.
"There's no evidence to suggest an execution-style killing."
Mr Hutchinson said Lutherborrow had been involved in some minor criminal offences in NSW, where he lived until last year, but had no criminal history in Queensland.
He moved from Yamba, in NSW, to the Gold Coast with his mother in August.
He was unemployed and continued to live with his mother on the coast.
Mr Leavers said organised crime was spilling onto the streets and public safety was a real concern.
"Without doubt the Gold Coast has cemented itself as the crime capital of Australia and unless we get a rapid injection of 100 to 150 staff on the Gold Coast we're in trouble," he told AAP.
The union chief said the government was only planning to provide an extra 150 police for the entire state over the next year.
"The Gold Coast will be lucky to get 20," he said.
"I've heard the police service and the minister say it's only organised crime, and ordinary people shouldn't be concerned.
"But it's spilling out into the streets and the suburbs now, and it's only a matter of time before an innocent person gets injured or killed."
