Cops warn kids to stay off streets after 9pm amid gang violence

It’s the Sydney suburb that’s under siege after a gang of violent young people turned the area into the state’s worst robbery hotspot, leading police to urge residents to stay off the streets at night-time.

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Fairfield is a suburb under siege after a gang of violent youths has turned it into the worst robbery hotspot in the state.

Almost 30 young men, all under 25, have been charged with 77 robbery offences since January.

The crimes range from robbing people at a skate park at knifepoint, to bag-snatching and bashing someone for their shoes.

Police have formed a new strike force to tackle the crime wave and warned people not to walk on their own late at night, especially through unlit areas, and not to wear earphones.

Fairfield Police Area Command Superintendent Peter Lennon has been forced to turn to community and religious leaders to keep youths off the streets. Picture: Angelo Velardo

“A majority of them are under 25,” Fairfield Police Area Command Superintendent Peter Lennon said of the suspects.

“They are local youths, we know who they are and we are trying to break them up out of groups so they are not just standing around plotting who they will rob next.”

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The Sunday Telegraph ­understands police officers have also turned to religious and community leaders for help to keep young people off the streets at night.

According to an intelligence ­report, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph and circulated among officers this week, there were 13 robberies around Fairfield — including at Bossley Park, Greenfield Park and Cabramatta — in April alone.

An intelligence report showed there were 13 robberies around Fairfield this week.

Supt Lennon said people were being targeted around ­shopping centres, skate parks and transport hubs.

“They’re kids but they’re mature enough to see a phone or a pair of shoes or a wallet and grab it,” he said.

A number of robberies have involved knives, including an ambush at a Bonnyrigg Heights skatepark.

The internal police memo states the robbers will use violence, including kicking and punching, and target school-age children and adults walking through parklands.

The majority of the young offenders have been linked to a core group of Pacific Islanders from the Bossley Park area but those arrested are from a variety of backgrounds.

Police are saying people are being targeted around major shopping centres, skate parks and transport hubs like railway stations. Picture: AAP Image/Melvyn Knipe

A strike force was set-up at Fairfield a month ago to target a long line of suspects involved in the robberies. Police numbers on the street have been boosted and officers are carrying out curfew checks on suspects.

Supt Lennon said the message to parents was to keep their children home at night.

“You should not be out after 9pm, you should be at home, having dinner and then studying for your future education,” he said.

The spike in youth crime is made worse by a series of unrelated robberies involving firearms this year.

These include a man armed with a sawn-off shotgun robbing the Bossley Park Sporting Club on April 7 and a man with a gun trying to rob a ­Dominos in Edensor Park on May 5.

Service stations at Edensor Park and Cabramatta West were also hit.

It is understood police believe another group is responsible for the armed hold-ups.

Originally published as Cops warn kids to stay off streets after 9pm amid gang violence