Opinion: City Youth Offending Requires Collective Response

There’s concern in the South regarding youth crime in our city.

Young people are our future and it worries me that there are some who have fallen off the rails and are getting involved in serious criminal activity.

I understand that it’s a small number of youths who are responsible, but local police say that this type of offending in Invercargill is no worse than anywhere else in the country. Related: Invercargill’s Call to Action: Community Meeting on Combatting Youth Crime

Often with youth crime it’s not just a police problem, but a community issue, with a range of Government agencies and community groups required to be involved.

Friends and families of the young people must also step up and provide leadership and role-modelling. They can influence these youth and support police and other agencies in their work.

Truancy, for instance, can be a problem and we must work on ways to keep young people in the education system, while groups of bored youth gathering together without a purpose is leading to problems.

The city’s new mall has been a target and I congratulate local police on their efforts to diffuse the situation by working with retailers this week, to come up with some collective solutions.

I will be attending Saturday’s public meeting, at the Civic Theatre, organised by the mayor and Invercargill City Council.

I see it as an opportunity for local people, community organisations, Government agencies, retailers and families, to come together and discuss a joint approach to the perceived problems our city is facing.

But let’s remind ourselves that this is not just an Invercargill problem, with youth offending an issue right across the country.

The coalition government has already made it clear that it is going to crack down on serious youth crime.

This includes the establishment of military-style academies and the creation of a new Young Serious Offender designation.

The government will begin with a pilot boot camp, that has both a military-style component, as well as ‘a rehabilitative and trauma-informed care approach,’ to reduce risks of reoffending.

Oranga Tamariki will run the programme alongside other agencies and providers that have the appropriate skills.

Prosecution is not always the answer – in some cases it is more appropriate to support young people to turn their lives around.