‘We can’t give up’: How taskforce chief will tackle youth crime

Queensland’s new youth crime taskforce commander says police can’t “give up” on troubled children and will hit the road with frontline officers to see first-hand the problems confronting the public.

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Queensland’s new youth crime taskforce commander says police can’t “give up” on troubled children and will hit the road with frontline officers to see first-hand the problems confronting the public.

Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini takes on the role amid concerns of increased youth crime following the home invasion murder of Emma Lovell in December and the murder of David Connolly who was walking to his Wilston home in January.

Earlier in his career in the service Mr Marchesini spent 17 years working with the child abuse and sexual crime group and also worked in the Juvenile Aid Bureau. He said youth offenders had the same sorts of underlying problems, including being subjected to domestic violence, that existed 20 to 30 years ago.

Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini is the Youth Crime Taskforce Commander. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“They’ve got very, very, complex issues and these are the sorts of things we need to dive in a bit deeper,” Mr Marchesini told The Courier-Mail.

“Certainly I understand community concern. We are actually seeing those complexities, I think they’ve always been there.

“Then you’ve got the added layer of social media and the internet ... I think when you add all that, the world becomes a lot smaller.”

Mr Marchesini said while there had been a decline in overall youth offenders there was a small cohort responsible for multiple offences.

Among the crimes committed by youth offenders, teens have taken to social media to post videos of their exploits including driving stolen cars at over 200km/h.

Mr Marchesini said social media was a tool offenders had to get to a wider audience and was a problem.

“Once again I think the fact that they are seeing that – and not just here in this state but potentially it’s globally that they are seeing things in real time unfold – you’re going to naturally have a progression of a small cohort that will want to have a notoriety around that,” Mr Marchesini said.

Police have spoken to The Courier-Mail about their frustrations of the “revolving door of justice” for youths who plead guilty in children’s courts before they are released back on the street and commit further crime.

“We can’t give up on these kids,” Mr Marchesini said.

“And a lot of them will actually feel that way. But it is around how we actually put in a circuit breaker in terms of ensuring that the environment is not there.”

Mr Marchesini said he understood the frustrations of frontline police.

“One of the reasons why I want to be able to get on the frontline and see those issues first-hand,” he said.

“Obviously with my background I understand those issues that are there, but wanting to put into real time today in terms of what they’re seeing,” he said.

Mr Marchesini said one of the biggest challenges was co-ordinating how police and other support agencies responded to at-risk youth to get the best result.