New police Operation Attend to target truants
‘‘Franklin police and these other agencies are making home visits to get that child to school, visit training courses making sure students are attending and check up on schools to see who is absent.’’
This week we commenced an Auckland-wide truancy operation – called Operation Attend.
Here in Franklin we are targeting truants in Pukekohe, Tuakau and Waiuku. Sustained truancy affects educational achievement and can lead to significantly diminished opportunities later in life. Attendance and engagement in school improves employment, social and life opportunities and reduces the development of anti-social behaviour and youth offending. We are working with schools and other groups such as Child Youth and Families plus truancy support providers.
Franklin police and these other agencies are making home visits to get that child to school, visit training courses making sure students are attending and check up on schools to see who is absent.
Sometimes the reason students truant is complicated and could be because they are victimised at school or there is zero parental support to get them there.
Other times they are committing crimes such as shoplifting, breaking into or stealing cars and burglaries when they should be in school.
We will identify a list of top 10 truants each day and then make the joint visits and start a intervention plan and get them to school.
Any student age person seen out of school during school hours will be spoken to by police and taken to school.
Parents/caregivers - by not working to get your kids to school you are robbing them of opportunities later in life.
Please engage with your school or phone us if your child is not going to school.
We will help you and them to overcome the issues that keep them away from school.
And to update - last week I talked about a group stealing cars at Waiuku and Pukekohe.
We haven’t yet made any arrests but have put in place some prevention activities which has seen this spate end.
Also we have arrested a 14-year-old and another young person for three Waiuku burglaries on Sunday night.
One at the Cosmopolitan Club, and two shops in town plus for breaking into two cars.