Will funds help stop youth crime?

Northlanders who work with troubled youth are sceptical about whether the money given to police in the Budget will help reduce crime.

Martin Kaipo, chief executive of the Te Hau whiowhio ō Ōtangarei Trust, said there wasn’t one reason young people got involved in criminal activity, so there wasn’t one solution.

“There’s a whole heap of factors that have affected the way young people are behaving.”

He said stopping truancy would help cut youth crime, as would expanding programmes such as Blue Light.

Many of these activities have been on hold due to Covid, Kaipo said, and needed to be reinstated.

“The Budget gives people a whole lot of money, and they’re not always going to do anything constructive with it,” he added.

Anthony Warren, who runs Te Mira (The Mill) boxing gym where he works with troubled youth, said there was no magic bullet to stop people becoming criminals.

“I’ve been 12 years in Kaikohe in my boxing gym, and if you’ve saved a couple you just have to pat yourself on the back and keep going.”

An increase in forestry jobs has been good for the town, Warren said, but kids not returning to school after Covid lockdowns had also been a problem recently.

However, Kaikohe had not been affected by the ram raids that have taken place in other parts of the country recently, he added. “This ram raid stuff, we had that about two or three years ago, but touch wood, we haven’t had that anymore.”

The perpetrators were easily identified in the small town, Warren said. He said he suspected smaller gangs, made up of mostly teenagers, were behind ram raids in other regions. “It’ll be one of the gangs, but it’s not one of the main gangs.”

The Government announced an extra $94 million to tackle gangs and organised crime, $198.3m for rehabilitation programmes and funding for more Corrections staff prior to Budget day.

The Government also announced a new firearms unit within police and an additional 1800 police by the end of the year.