Young offenders: Eight crime stopping initiatives the community want to see

A town-hall meeting to discuss youth crime heard a lot of ideas from the community. Here are eight key program outcomes that the community and police want to see rolled out.

QPS Superintendent Douglas McDonald addresses the Toowoomba Community Safety Forum at Empire Theatres. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Toowoomba community safety public forum heard a wide range of ideas from the community and police about what can be done to reduce youth crime.

The overwhelming consensus from police and the Department of Youth Justice was that there needed to be a multi-agency approach that supported families and offenders to address the root cause of violence and property.

This was a hard pill to swallow for a crowd that at times, was more interested in punative measures.

But the police came armed with evidence that a wholistic approach has worked in the past and they believed would work again.

Here are eight key take away initiatives that came out of the meeting.

TRC Mayor Paul Antonio talks with Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll before the Toowoomba Community Safety Forum at Empire Theatres. Picture: Kevin Farmer

1: Youth Co-Responder Teams: Police Minister Mark Ryan announced Toowoomba Police would join with Youth Justice case workers in rolling out Youth Co-Responder Teams.

The teams have been used to great success in northern Queensland and involved case workers and police patrolling our streets and taking a more proactive approach to ensuring at-risk teens are complying with court orders.

They look at ways to divert young people from crime but connect with their families and support agencies.

2: Greater police presence at shopping centres: Security at Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre was in focus with several people at the meeting highlighting recent serious offences at the complex.

Audience members called for a police beat at the centre or an increase in police patrols.

3: More communication: Led by Voice for Victims founder Ken Cunliffe, several audience members called on the police and courts to provide more information about the outcomes of their cases.

They also called for victims to have access to closed Childrens Court proceeds, so they can understand the reasoning behind a magistrate or judge’s ruling, along with being able to provide a victim impact statement.

Ken Cunliffe of Voices of Victims asks a question at the Toowoomba Community Safety Forum at Empire Theatres. Picture: Kevin Farmer

4: Intensive bail supervision: Mr Ryan committed more money for Darling Downs Police to conduct extra bail checks to make sure young offenders are at home or in care and not on the street and up to no good.

More funding for Community Based Crime Action Committees: These committees fund community based programs to divert young people away from crime and the youth justice system.

5: More community engagement: The police and ministers made a commitment to come back to Toowoomba to update the community about how the new police procedures and programs are working.

6: Expansion of Youth Justice Task Force: Headed up by Acting Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini, the task force is focusing on the serious repeat offender, the 10 per cent of youth offenders who commit 50 per cent of youth crime. It also works with community organisations, to identify what programs have been successful in diverting young people away from crime and finding ways to expand those programs or develop similar programs in other communities.

7: Clarification around self-defence: The crime forum wanted to know how far they could go to defend their properties.

8: Less youth crime: Commissioner Katarina Carroll was open about the challenges police have faced over the past 12 months with the spike in youth crime. The commissioner did not shy away from the spike or attempt to downplay it. She validated the communities concerns and made a firm commitment to reducing offending.

Originally published as Young offenders: Eight crime stopping initiatives the community want to see