Nats tout boot camps for young offenders
National is promising to bring back military-style boot camps for young offenders if elected.
The policy, announced by National Leader Christopher Luxon in Hamilton yesterday, would see the party crack down on serious repeat youth offenders like ram-raiders to turn their lives around and to protect the public.
‘‘A ramraid every 15 hours shows that Labour’s soft-on-crime approach is failing,’’ Luxon said.
The party’s plan involves targeting serious repeat offenders with a new Young Serious Offender (YSO) category aimed at ringleaders.
This will apply to offenders aged 10 to 17 who have committed a serious offence such as a ramraid, other aggravated burglary, or serious assault at least twice.
Consequences will include being sent to a Young Offender Military Academy, electronic monitoring, or being subject to an intensive supervision order in their community.
A Young Offender Military Academy would provide ‘‘discipline, mentoring and intensive rehabilitation to make a decisive intervention in these young offenders’ lives’’ for people aged 15 to 17.
They could stay for up to a year. The academies will be delivered in partnership with the Defence Force, alongside other providers.
The plan is a retread of previous National policy involving boot camps, which were a cornerstone of Sir John Key’s 2008 state of the nation speech before his election.
In 2010 the Ministry of Social Development introduced The MAC
(Military Activity Camp) programme as part of the Government’s Fresh Start reforms, aimed at 40 of the most serious and persistent youth offenders.
But a 2012 report found more than 50% of those who had been out of the camps for more than six months reoffended, including 10 youths who committed 126 offences between them.
National would also give police greater powers to tackle gangs including by banning patches and stopping gang members gathering in public.
Some youth offenders could be ordered to undergo intensive supervision by community-based organisations to ‘‘face consequences’’ and turn their lives around while also staying connected to their families.