Northern beaches police to target seven teenage trouble spots after alleged assault
Seven teenage peninsula trouble spots have been named by police who will be out in force this weekend clamping down on large gatherings and bad behaviour, as a senior officer said police have been left “doing the work of parents”.
Manly
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Police will be out in force this weekend patrolling teenage trouble hot spots on the northern beaches.
Known areas for teenage congregation include Manly Wharf, Dee Why, Collaroy, Elanora Heights, Warriewood, Newport and Avalon.
It follows the arrest of four teenagers aged 16 and 17 after a police officer was allegedly assaulted outside McDonald’s in Warriewood trying to disperse a large crowd of kids late on Friday night.
There were also reports of a large group of teenagers at the Sea Life Aquarium in Manly last weekend, including underage drinkers.
Det Chief Insp Michael Boutouridis warned anyone who is currently on a bail curfew to abide by the restrictions as police “will be checking on you”.
He said there will be an increase in officers on the streets this weekend and during the school holidays when there is a general increase in young people out late at night.
Last year former northern beaches police commander Dave Darcy wrote a letter to parents in the north of the peninsula about poorly behaved kids who are “fuelled on alcohol and drugs, both illegal and prescription”, including Xanax and Valium.
Det Chief Insp Boutouridis said police on the northern beaches are increasingly being forced to do the “work parents should be doing” and said it is “diverting our resources from people who actively need us”.
He said mass gatherings of more than 50 teenagers some as young as 14 is an issue on the peninsula and even if the children are minding their own business a group that size is intimidating.
“Who is supervising them, there are no parents there?” Det Chief Insp Boutouridis said.
“It’s a mob of kids.”
Insp Boutouridis said they have seen children as young as 14 intoxicated and that in many cases teenagers are either stealing alcohol or older siblings are buying it for them.
He said he did not want to give parenting tips, but suggested that teenagers should not be out late at night drinking.
He also voiced concern about the lack of respect young people have for adults and those in authority.
“Parents are not setting any boundaries,” he said.
“When we tell some of these young persons we are going to tell their parents and bring them down, there is no concern, no alarm on their faces,” he said.
“If there’s no respect at home, what hope do the police have?”
Det Chief Insp Boutouridis said perhaps the increase in big gatherings are occurring because of frustrations over COVID-19 restrictions, but said restrictions are easing and there will be more freedom of movement soon.
He suggested that bored youths should go to the Dee Why PCYC or channel their energy by picking up a football.
Independent councillor Vincent De Luca, a councillor for the Narrabeen Ward, said this week residents have been complaining about youths leaving drug-taking paraphernalia in public reserves and in the grounds of childcare centres.
He said fences and letterboxes are also being destroyed around Elanora Heights during weekend vandal attacks.
He called on the NSW Government to re-open the police station at Avalon in an effort to halt anti-social behaviour by youths.”
The four teens involved in the incident on Friday appeared in Parramatta Children’s Court on Sunday and were granted conditional bail.