Horowhenua Chronicle - Youth Crime
There have been numerous stories lately about unruly, violent and dishonest youths, including a fight involving about 50 young people in the Levin Mall car park.
Most of the stories we read and hear about are nuisance-value. They cause frustration for the victims of the petty crime, intimidation and vandalism. They are also generally committed by minors, who escape any sort of punishment for the crime – Police are left powerless as most are too young to be charged. They are sent home and nothing changes.
Those that are old enough to be charged are processed through the system and inevitably fined, with the fine adding to others already accumulated and not paid.
What is disheartening is the impact of these young people on other people. Packs of youths make people feel unsafe. This stupid violence also detracts from all the positive things Levin has to offer.
These young people are a minority tarnishing the reputation of the majority of young people in our district.
Statistics collected across the country show that since 1999, total apprehensions of 14 to 20-year-olds for violent offences have increased by 43%. In the same period, apprehensions for property crime have increased by 29% and for sexual offending by an astonishing 82%.
These statistics show that the Government is not delivering safer communities and is losing the battle against law and order, especially on youth crime.
It is also evident that the family unit is in steady decline and this Government isn’t developing any policies to reverse this trend.
Often youth crime habits are fuelled by a need for alcohol and drugs and this culture is hard to change, but needs to be tackled head-on for our youth and society.
The Police are doing a pretty good job, but deal with parents or guardians that pay little attention and care to their child’s whereabouts – last week we read of Police having to take a youth back to the station rather than home, as the parents were drunk.
We all need to do our bit and report anything suspicious to the Police. It’s clear that we need a fresh approach and National intends to gauge your thoughts on our Law and Order discussion document due to be released soon in preparation for the 2008 election.
You can expect a National Government to have firm policies on law and order. From preventing crime, to policing crime, to punishing crime – National must do better than Labour is doing. And we will.