A 51-year-old Karratha man has been charged with a string of offences in relation to an alleged vigilante crime group in the city.
Detectives yesterday executed a search warrant at a Karratha house, where they arrested the man and charged him with incitement to commit an indictable offence, stealing and other offences.
The man is alleged to be the leader of a vigilante group which police say had been targeting certain houses and conducting night-time street patrols.
It was allegedly being organised through a private Facebook group.
Superintendent Kim Massam said alleged vigilante groups were not acceptable.
"This is terrible. I think the behaviour of some people on that Facebook site that we were referring to is deplorable," he said.
The Facebook group has been shut down.
Crime rising across the north-west
Superintendent Massam said while the Pilbara was not experiencing the same level of violence as in the Kimberley, escalating crime rates were on his radar.
"We've been pushing resources over to Newman, who have had significant crime strikes," he said.
"I don't want to compare apples and oranges but the challenges in Newman far outstrip other areas of the Pilbara."
Superintendent Massam said a significant number of Newman children had been charged with criminal offences.
"[It] is not something that I'm proud of, because it makes no difference, those children still come home to the social environment that they live in," he said.
"Locking kids up isn't the answer to most of those issues."
Superintendent Massam said police would continue to work alongside the community to address rising crime rates.
"It's got the attention of all of government, this isn't just a police matter … this is about children who live in unsafe homes," he said.
He said it was important to work together, but not in vigilante groups.
