A prominent Queensland defence lawyer has labelled police "disingenuous" and is echoing concern that officers could be acting outside the law, in mounting criticism of a radical police operation targeting youth crime in Mount Isa.

Under Operation Tucson, police in the north-west Queensland town have stopped hundreds of children, amid growing community concerns about youth crime in the region.

Officers have been recording the names of the children, noting their addresses, clothing, where they are going and, in many cases, taking their photograph.

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is writing to the Privacy Commissioner asking for an investigation into the practice.

QCCL vice-president Terry O'Gorman said he would also be writing to Police Minister Mark Ryan, urging him to put a stop to the operation.

Terry O'Gorman said he would urge the Police Minister to stop the operation. ( ABC News: Matt Eaton )

Mr Ryan has previously told the ABC he was not concerned by the practice of photographing juveniles.

"Police always operate within the bounds of the law and they will use the powers given to them by the Parliament to ensure they're able to hold people to account that are involved in criminal offending," he said.

Today, Mr Ryan said he would wait for any complaints to be made to the Crime and Corruption Commission or the Privacy Commissioner before commenting further.

"I'm happy to see further commentary from any stakeholder around police conduct, but there are appropriate channels for complaints," he said.

"Let's wait and see what any complaint turns up, if anyone does have a complaint they should make it to the appropriate bodies and we'll see in due course what those complaints and investigations uncover."

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) said officers obtained consent from all children prior to photographing them.

"Photographs of young people who have been repeatedly identified by police walking the streets are taken with the child's consent and in a public place," a QPS spokesperson said in a statement.

"Parental or guardian consent is sought if the child does not have the capacity to give the consent themselves."

'They're being disingenuous about consent'

But senior Sunshine Coast solicitor Kurt Fowler said there was a large question mark over whether such consent could ever be classed as informed.

"A child can give consent to a photograph being taken, but of course if police were to take that approach, to be perfectly blunt, they're being disingenuous because it's a child," he said.

"There's a power imbalance between a police officer in uniform standing on a street on a dark night with a camera, and a child."

Police said five young people were in this stolen car when it crashed early last year. ( ABC News: Frances Adcock )

Mr Fowler said QCCL's move to halt the police operation was "completely appropriate".

"The legislation in this state provides circumstances in which police officers in public can stop a person and ask for their particulars … legislation doesn't provide for a power to stop people randomly, particularly children, and take their photograph, there's no direct power for that," Mr Fowler said.

"What piece of legislation do they point to, to say that they can stop a person on the street and without their permission, in what appears to be a random intercept, take their photograph?

"I can't point to the piece of legislation that authorises that."

'I'm completely floored'

Youth Advocacy Service director Janet Wight said she doesn't know under what authority the photographs are being taken.

"In general, fingerprinting and photographing can only happen once someone has been arrested … I'm completely floored by what authority the police believe they have," she said.

"They're supposed to have another adult there with them to make sure they're treated appropriately by the police.

"Presumably those photographs are being taken on the street without any of that additional protection that we provide to young people in their interactions with police."

Ms Wight said she did not believe children could give informed consent because they could not understand how the photographs would be used.

"I don't know what right or authority the police feel they have to even ask that question, because the only power they have to take photographs is once a person has been arrested, as far as I've always understood it," she said.