22.03.17
WITH all the talk lately of community priorities and plans, it is hard not to think about local crime and the involvement of our young people.
It is a topic that probably frustrates every single one of us. I for one am tired of having and hearing the same conversations around youth and crime, year in year out.
To get a handle on the scale of the situation across our district, I did a little searching on the BOCSAR (Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research) website.
While there are many limitations to this data and you can in no way consider it gospel, it is probably the best guide we’ve got when you consider that not all crime is reported in our district.
In the five years to September 2016 the number of alleged offenders proceeded against for malicious damage ranged between 33 and 49 each year; and for theft (includes break and enters, steal motor vehicle and from motor vehicle) there were between 67 and 114 offenders each year.
The catch is that the data doesn’t identify where multiple crimes were committed by one person, so the actual number of individual offenders is much lower.
It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume that we are dealing with at least half that number of offenders across the district.
We can also get a glimpse of where we stand on juvenile crime.
In 2016, offenders under the age of 18 were responsible for 75% of the reported break and enter dwelling incidents; 80% of the break and enter non-dwelling incidents; 66% of the steal from motor vehicle incidents; and just over 50% of crimes involving malicious damage.
In short, as a community, we are doing a terrible job of keeping some of our kids out of trouble.
It cannot be all about policing.
Catching and either releasing or punishing young offenders is a fast road to nowhere.
We need to keep children and young people off that slippery slide that can lead to a lifetime (or generations) of association with the justice system.
Our local Police are trying all they can think of and are already stretched. They need the community to work with them on the prevention side of things.
We have to do a better job of engaging local children in education and connecting them to positive opportunities in the communities where they live.
We should be working to keep them safe, well fed, and occupied so that hunger and boredom do not become the drivers into crime.
We need to work together to do these things within the resources we have available.
We have more services, staff and funding to support families and young people than ever before. We can do better with what we’ve got.
Inspector David Checkley, Duty Officer for our Local Area Command says, “Community consultation helps to identify local issues and concerns, however good ideas appear to be going to waste in Coonamble.”
“This is a community problem with various contributing factors. The Police at Coonamble and the Command as a whole are keen to implement change and work with the community to reduce crime and there are opportunities to bring your good ideas to the table”
Seems like we are ripe for change.