Families and businesses terrorised by youth crime
Police have been watching almost 400 children they consider to be dangerous and criminally active, the youngest of which is just nine years old. SEE IF YOUR SUBURB APPEARS ON THE LIST.
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A child as young as nine is on a blacklist of juveniles targeted by police as the state’s top cop has warned some kids are “dangerous” and committing heinous crimes.
The blacklist, known as the Suspect Target Management Plan (STMP), reveals 392 children have been closely watched by police at some stage over the past two years.
The nine-year-old is the youngest on the list — too young to be charged with a crime.
The STMP is designed to target juveniles, who are repeat offenders, before they commit another crime and gives police the right to search them on demand and knock on their parents’ door to make sure they are home.
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Between June 2017 and June 2019, there have been 23 children on the list aged 12-years-old and under including four 11-year-olds and 18 twelve-year-olds.
There have been 105 sixteen- year-olds.
“We unfortunately do have kids, even under 10, who are committing terrible crimes,” NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said in a startling admission.
“Committing terrible acts, heinous acts.
“I could go through the cases of robbery, sexual assault, stabbings — it does not make me happy as the police commissioner and I am not saying there is an epidemic, but unfortunately there is a small percentage of young people who are dangerous.”
Details of the blacklist have been obtained by The Daily Telegraph under freedom of information laws.
A police media spokeswoman said: “In an attempt to prevent reoffending, young people on the STMP are singled out by police for proactive attention, including being repeatedly detained and searched while going about their everyday lives, and visited at home at all hours of the day.”
In addition to those on the STMP list, in the past year 161 10-year-olds have been proceeded against by the police for crimes including assault, theft, arson and malicious damage.
At the same time, 436 11-year-olds were in trouble with the police and 1140 12-year-olds including one who broke into a 78-year-old woman’s house and bashed her with a brick and piece of timber so severely that she could barely open her eyes.
Commissioner Fuller has shaken up the STMP scheme with additional safeguards put in place. Before anyone under 14 goes on the list, they have to be approved by the assistant commissioner of the Youth and Capability Command.
He told the recent police and emergency services budget estimates committee that since he took over as commissioner in 2017, the number of children aged under 14 on the list had gone from 23 to one.
“I think that has been an extremely positive outcome that now there is only one individual and, in saying that, that individual is someone who should be targeted,” Commissioner Fuller told the recent police and emergency services budget estimates committee.
The STMP list also gives a rare snapshot of Sydney’s suburbs with youth crime issues.
The western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt — postcode 2770 — had the highest number of young offenders at 13, the second highest was Campbelltown — postcode 2560 — with 12 juvenile offenders.
It also busts the myths about Middle Eastern and African youths as being some of the Sydney’s worst offenders.
The largest number of young people on the list at 41 per cent identify as having some White/European background, while the next biggest group is 35 per cent identifying as having some Aboriginal heritage.
The third biggest ethnic group identify as having Pacific Island background with nine per cent.
A 12-year-old Aboriginal boy who bashed the elderly woman in her home recently won his appeal against a sentence of imprisonment of 3 years and 9 months at her home with a non-parole period of two years.
Despite being told the woman had since moved to Queensland to live with her son because she was too terrified to live alone, the 12-year-old was recorded in custody saying: “Yeah. That’s good. She lucky I didn’t kill the c****… I laugh about it every night when I in my room when I’m bored looking out my window.”
The Court of Criminal Appeal earlier this year cut his maximum sentence by seven months and imposed a minimum of one year four months after finding the sentencing judge failed to “have due regard to the youth, immaturity and impulsivity of the applicant”.
Police are getting in early to steer children as young as eight away from crime.
NSW Youth and Crime Prevention Commander, Superintendent Mark Wall, said RISEUP, the early intervention program introduced by Mr Fuller and aimed at youths aged eight to 13 had been a “significant success” and the PCYC was another avenue to focus young people.
“NSW Police Force prioritises prevention, intervention, and diversion when dealing with young people, which starts with positive engagement programs,” Supt Wall said yesterday.
“There’s been significant success through the Commissioner’s RISEUP strategy, which incorporates job-ready programs, mentoring, and vocational training for at-risk youth aged between eight and 17.
He said that in its first year, RISEUP helped 140 young people aged between 15 and 17 secure workplace opportunities.
“It also includes ‘Fit for Work’, which is designed to holistically address a young person’s disengagement from their family, education, or opportunities for employment,” Supt Wall said.
“Police are also actively involved in programs and other strategies with relevant agencies aimed at engaging indigenous youth to prevent them from coming into police custody and into the justice system more generally.”
Juvenile offender rates are mostly falling around the country in the last two years, with the exception of Western Australia, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics for Youth Offenders
However, the number of serious crimes such as intent to cause injury rose over the same period and was the most common offence in the last financial year in New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT.
Overall, the number of young offenders aged 10 to 17 years accused of assault or intend to cause injury, increased for the third consecutive year to 9438 youth offenders, up from 8773 in 2016—17.
Robbery and extortion offences also increased for the past two years up 25 per cent to 1289 offenders.
The national statistics showed in 2017-2018 the proportion of males charged with offences was much higher than females.
For every female young offender charged with weapons or explosives offences there were seven males charged with the same offence.
And for every female charged with dangerous or negligent acts, unlawful entry or robbery and extortion there were five males charged.
‘WE ARE BEING TERRORISED BY CHILDREN’
By Mitchell Van Homrigh
Families and shop owners in Sydney’s west say they are being terrorised by children who are brazenly fighting and stealing on busy streets.
They say children as young as 10 are stealing clothes, drinks, food and cigarettes from shops in Mt Druitt, Blacktown and Campbelltown.
One shop owner on Cleeve Cl, Mt Druitt, who asked to remain anonymous said the young thieves were becoming more brazen.
“They just walk into my shop and take things, it doesn’t matter if I’m looking or if I’m not they don’t care,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“When I have confronted them about it saying they need to pay or I’ll call the police they just laugh and tell me to come outside the shop and fight them. These young kids are threatening me, saying they could kill me if they wanted.
“I have had to hire security to try and stop them stealing, we have had some success but they would try almost every day.”
Another shop owner, who did not wish to be named, said the kids as had stolen cigarettes from his shop and when banned from the premise they waited outside to rob customers who had just bought items.
Cleeve Cl was alive with activity on Thursday last week with youths in their school uniforms smoking and drinking while strutting around wearing designer bags.
Khaja Khazada, 46, moved from Merrylands to Mt Druitt with his three children Marwa, 8, Ibrahim, 7, and Safa, 5, last year and said he was too scared to take his children out after dark.
“There are many dangerous people around here. Being a single father, I am scared. What if someone does something to my kids when I can’t see them,” he said.
“They hang around like they own everything spitting and smoking. They are running down the street stealing things. I don’t like it at all.
“You see them fighting and swearing, it is scary.”
However, some businesses in Cleeve Cl have taken a different approach with problem youths in the area.
Max, who has owned Maxim’s Topping Mad Pizza Kebab and Pide for 25 years, said he had learnt to deal with the children differently.
“We understand that these children might have a different idea on what is right or wrong, that is why we speak to them, offer them food and have a chat,” he said.
“We are lenient with them sometimes, there is no point going crazy over a 10-year-old stealing a $2 can of Coke. We give them food, we respect them and they respect us.”
Originally published as Families and businesses terrorised by youth crime