Extended spells in cells for kids, youth

More than 2000 Kiwi children and youth have been placed in police custody in the last year.

Of those, more than 150 spent more than 24 hours in the cells.

Police figures show 2167 people aged 10 to 16 years clocked up custody records across New Zealand .

That was an improvement on the 2686 recorded in the 2015/2016 financial year.

With two months of the 2016/17 financial year left, the number of children and youth, aged 10 to 16, who have come into police custody in Christchurch sits at 127 – compared with 151 in 2015/16.

Police youth manager Ross Lienert said police took an approach to youth in their custody that was one of managing the risk that went with the age and vulnerability of young people.

‘‘That means we keep them separate from older prisoners and aim to have them in our custody for the shortest time possible in the circumstances, meaning we look to family, the community or other agencies to look after them.’’

Ministry of Social Development figures identified 157 children and young people who had been detained in police cells for more than 24 hours in New Zealand over the last year.

Oranga Tamariki’s youth justice services deputy chief executive, Allan Boreham, said breaking the cycle of youth offending was a priority for the new ministry. The current average time a young person spent in police custody was around two days.

‘‘Our general duty of care requires us to ensure that any child or young person detained in police custody is visited regularly and assessed until they can be safely returned home, placed in the community or in a secure placement.’’

‘‘Looking ahead, we will be establishing a number of community-based settings for children and young people detained in the chief executive’s custody pending their youth court hearing.

‘‘These include the development of small local remand homes and recruitment and training of specialist foster carers. We are also looking at ways we can provide better advice to judges on the circumstances of the young person and how any decision made impact them in the future.

‘‘In the interim, we have increased the capacity at Te Puna Wai by 10 more beds, to reduce the risk of vulnerable young people spending more time than is necessary in police custody.’’

Children’s commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said there were certain cases where a young person may need to be held in a police cell, such as prior to their first Youth Court appearance, or when a child need3e to be moved to a facility elsewhere in the country, but the Government needed to remove the option of police cell remand in the new Oranga Tamariki legislation currently before Parliament.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said a young person was remanded to police cells as a last resort. ‘‘As soon as this happens, officials make further enquiries to find a bed in a secure unit. This usually happens within a day of remand.’’