Youth lawlessness now at crisis point
Lawyers speculate the move was made after the State Government changed the law to include 17-year-olds as juveniles rather than adults.
Gold Coast Detective Inspector Marc Hogan said tackling youth crime was a “complex” issue that was constantly changing.
“If anyone commits crime we will do our best to hold them to account through the system we have,” he said, adding it was difficult to say if youth crime was on the rise. JIMMY Gallagher wits’ end.
The Robina Timber and Hardware Store owner is fed up with arriving at his store to find timber strewn about, containers urinated on and bottles thrown around the yard.
He says the culprits are a gang of youths who have been terrorising his store and committing petty crimes.
“Police can’t do anything,” Mr Gallagher said. “Their hands are tied.”
Mr Gallagher said as recently as yesterday he arrived at work to find timber strewn across the store yard.
He said he had called police but little had deterred the youths from returning again.
Stories like his are not uncommon across the Gold Coast.
LNP Broadwater MP David Crisafulli is calling on the State is at his Government to make wideranging changes to youth justice legislation to give police and the courts more powers to punish repeat offenders.
This month two females, aged 17 and 19, were left without jackets and shoes when two 14-year-old boys threatened them at knifepoint in Southport, demanding clothes.
A woman yesterday posted on the Palm Beach and Elanora Queensland Community Facebook page warning people to be careful after her neighbour was attacked by five teens.
“Tugun residents are living in fear as well,” Carolyn Holder replied to the warning.
Robina councillor Hermann Vorster has been fighting his own battle against youth crime, often posting the aftermath of their vandalism.
Cr Vorster said it was sparked by residents contacting him about crime in their area.
“I have seen a marked increase in juvenile delinquents over the past 24 months despite an increase in police patrols,” he said.
Cr Vorster said it was a concern raised with him by a number of business operators who all felt powerless.
The council has changed the layout of parks and public spaces as well as installed more CCTV in an effort to discourage young offenders loitering.
At Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove, Mr Crisafulli said his residents were seeing a similar increase in crime.
He said young offenders laughed when police approached.
“There was a time when someone approached a gang of youths doing the wrong thing and they ran away. This does not happen anymore,” he said.
Last year the State Government overturned a law that allowed repeat juvenile offenders to be publicly named. Mr Crisafulli wants that law reinstated.
“I would like to see recidivist offenders dealt with in a more harsh manner,” he said.
The Broadwater MP called for instances in which a juvenile breached their bail to be made an offence.
But Youth Minister Di Farmer slammed his calls.
“The people of Queensland also expect us to stop the cycle of reoffending, and that’s why we are investing so heavily in evidence-based programs that can break that cycle,” she said.
“Evidence shows putting more young people in detention almost guarantees those young people will reoffend.”
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said it was an operational matter up to the courts.
BULLETIN’S VIEW, P18