A mother’s desperate plea for help
The mother of a teenage girl mauled by police dogs, after she fled from a stolen car, fears her daughter will one day be killed.
Alice Lincoln* has lost count of the times she has retrieved her daughter, Ella, from a distant police station. The most recent was last Saturday night in Ka¯ piti, after the fangs of a police dog brought to an end the 14-year-old’s high-speed joyride with four friends that covered 90km and involved two stolen cars.
But the mother’s sympathy is running on empty. Desperate, she is calling on police, social workers and mental health professionals to help parents rehabilitate misbehaving teenagers.
The Palmerston North woman, who has several children, including one already in the youth court system, concedes she doesn’t have the tools to control Ella’s behaviour.
She is fearful of the dreaded knock on the door from police, scared her daughter may be killed if nothing changes.
Lincoln hoped the state would introduce a course to educate parents on how to deal with ‘‘out-ofcontrol’’ teenagers before they ended up in the justice system.
Ella and her friends stole a car in Palmerston North by removing its ignition barrel. They dumped it at O¯ taki, before hijacking another and catching the attention of police near Paraparaumu. When she fled the second vehicle, she was chased down by police dogs.
Ella was left with deep bite marks that required stitches.
Ella had been a promising pupil at intermediate school, achieving excellence in NCEA Ma¯ ori level one and winning the award for top Ma¯ ori pupil. She also represented Manawatu¯ at touch rugby.
Her behaviour began to change as she started high school. It started with skipping classes, then full days. Recently, Ella was expelled after she was caught drinking and smoking.
Despite being grounded, Ella would wait until her mother went to bed and then slip out the back door.
She is linked to a teenage street gang that calls itself NSK – No Snitch Krew.
Lincoln sees a counsellor each week to work through the anxiety and she has tried to get Ella to attend family counselling sessions.
Ella’s sister, Naomi, has taken
‘‘They know the police will just lock them up and their parents will just pick them up the next day.’’
her to UCOL to show her a range of courses. She has talked to her about getting a job or taking up hobbies.
She estimates Ella has been involved in the thefts of at least 20 cars, but police have yet to charge the teen for any crimes.
‘‘They know nothing will happen. They know the police will just lock them up and their parents will just pick them up the next day. I have tried giving her options.’’
Parents became an easy target, but Lincoln said laying blame didn’t get anyone closer to a solution.
‘‘You can’t sleep because you worry about your kids. You worry that you’re going to get that knock at the door,’’ she said.
‘‘You could say 100 times not to go out. As soon as you go to bed, she’s out the back door. There’s nothing you can do. You can only report them missing and then wait for a knock. I want it to stop. I want to try and find a solution.’’
Manawatu¯ social worker Robyn Duncan wasn’t aware of any services that help parents such as Lincoln. It wasn’t until a child was charged and convicted through the youth court that Oranga Tamariki became involved.
‘‘If a kid steals a car and they get caught, they get put under Oranga Tamariki, but very little happens to them. They’re put under a social worker, but that social worker isn’t with them 24 hours.’’
Stealing cars was an addiction and teenagers craved the risk and adrenaline of driving cars at speed. Social workers couldn’t change their behaviour in a one-hour session, she said. ‘‘They’re not just doing petty crime. It’s beyond police. My opinion is there is nothing that anyone can do.’’
She said the change had to come from within the individual. Social workers could give children the tools to change but, without their desire, the cycle of law breaking would keen spinning.
* Pseudonyms have been used in this article to protect the family, except for Robyn Duncan.