New system keeps youth on remand out of cells

Police and welfare agencies are facing a ‘balancing act’ keeping young criminals out of jail to avoid harm while also keeping communities safe.

A new programme called the Remand Option Investigation Tool is aiming to have fewer youth criminals locked up on remand and to address the problem of young people kept in police cells.

It deals with people aged 12 to 16 from the time of arrest through to court appearances.

Oranga Tamariki, police, the health and education ministries and youth advocacy groups are all part of the scheme.

The pilot started in the Manukau District Court last year before being rolled out in Christchurch, where it finished last week, and Rotorua, where it is still running.

Police prosecutor Mark Strong said the multi-agency approach avoided the ‘‘one train of thought’’ trap. ‘‘There might be a young person who is actually just starting to attend a course, for example.

‘‘If that young person is remanded in custody, their position on that course might be compromised,’’ he said.

‘‘Having the Ministry of Education there actually allows for that mindset to come on board.

‘‘We’ll say: Hang on, this young person’s just started here, do we really want that compromised?

‘‘Because that’s a positive in that person’s life.’’

In the first half of the Manukau trial period, police opposed bail 10 times and the tool was used eight times.

On three occasions a recommendation was changed to support bail.

Strong said it was encouraging that some young offenders stayed out of custody but the change wasn’t straightforward.

‘‘I sit on the fence because as police we are trying to keep the community safe as well, so it’s a fine balancing act for us.’’

''I sit on the fence because as police we are trying to keep the community safe as well, so it's a fine balancing act for us."

Police prosecutor Mark Strong

were ‘‘effectively being kept in solitary confinement’’ when it was revealed 11 youths around the country were in police custody alongside adults.

‘‘When you have too many people in residences and not enough beds you end up with kids in police cells, which we’ve all agreed, right across the whole sector, is to be avoided wherever possible. It’s just not appropriate.

‘‘[The pilot] will be a very important part of the solution [to youth in police cells],’’ Walker said.

‘‘It’s not going to be the solution in itself but it will be part of a suite of responses ... options in the middle between going home on bail when it’s not appropriate and being locked up in a residence.’’

Strong said young people were rarely remanded in custody due not having somewhere to be bailed to but it did occasionally happen, ‘‘which is unfortunate’’.