Editorial: The one sure wrong way to respond to youth crime

As frustrated as you might be at what many see as a lack of police and government action to control youth crime, taking action yourself is never the right thing, writes the editor.

As frustrated as you might be at what many see as a lack of police and government action to control youth crime, taking action yourself is never the right thing.

On Sunday police intervened when an angry mob of about 100 people went walking the streets of Rockhampton, visiting homes where they believed young criminals were living. Others are meanwhile using social media to offer money for the names of housebreakers and car thieves.

It is easy to understand the urge of anyone directly affected by crime – and who feels the police are not doing enough – to take matters into their own hands. But would-be vigilantes – whether they’re joining a mob on the street or directing action with a keyboard – should always keep this thought in mind: The one sure wrong way to respond to crime is with more crime.

Police say they are considering whether any charges will be laid and are reviewing extensive footage of Sunday’s rally in Rockhampton, organised by former One Nation candidate and Muay Thai gym owner Torin O’Brien following a break-in at his sister’s house.

Torin O'Brien speaking with Rockhampton police during the rally. Picture: Vanessa Jarrett

Regardless of whether police take further action, Superintendent Glen Pointing of the Capricornia Police District made an obvious point after the rally about people taking law enforcement into their own hands: “It’s really dangerous behaviour and innocent members of the public can inadvertently get hurt”.

Any would-be vigilante who feels they are safe behind a keyboard rather than on the street while trying to track down criminals should also be wary, as high-profile criminal lawyer Bill Potts noted in The Courier-Mail recently.

Mr Potts said that handing over the identities of suspected criminals to would-be online vigilantes could put the providers of the information in legal hot water.

“If it’s implicit in the request that this person is going to take the law into their own hands, yes, you can find yourself charged,” he warned. “Section 7 of the Criminal Code says it’s an offence to aid, abet, assist, enable or procure somebody else to commit an offence, including home invasions or violence. But if you are providing information so that they can go to the police, there is no issue.”

A group of people are blocked by police from approaching a home in Rockhampton after an ‘anti-crime rally’ in Rockhampton on Sunday. Picture: Vanessa Jarrett

In other words, there is a fine line between being law-abiding and breaking the law. It is, as we say, easy to understand the desire of victims of crime, who feel frustrated they are being neglected by the system, to take direct action.

It is also every citizen’s right to publicly protest peacefully about the issues that concern them.

But it is also the case that we have a professional police force and a judicial system to monitor law and order and pass sentence on those who break the law.

And so, as Mr Potts also said: “If you’ve got to protest, certainly do so – but you don’t do that by essentially a lynch mob mentality, invading people’s privacy. It’s un-Australian and I strongly recommend people don’t do it.”

We agree. Mob law should never be the answer, particularly to such a vexing question as how to control youth crime and do justice better.

As Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk routinely and rightly says, this is a complex issue which needs a wide range of responses – from the right laws and policing to support for at-risk children.

Taking to the street or to social media in anger will only ever do little more than inflame an already tense situation.