Liberal youth crime crackdown: Ban on teens mixing with known gang members

TEENS with no criminal records will be banned from mixing with known gang members in an unprecedented crackdown on youth crime promised by ­Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.

TEENS with no criminal records will be banned from mixing with known gang members in an unprecedented crackdown on youth crime promised by ­Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.

Police will be able to issue “notice ­orders” to any juveniles — whether or not they have rap sheets — who they believe are in danger of being influenced by organised criminals or youth gangs.

Anyone who flouts the tough new anti-consorting regime could face jail, with terms of more than two years being considered.

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“This new gang-busting, anti-­consorting law will make Victoria a safer place,” Mr Guy said last night.

“This law will give police the power and support they need to break up gangs and stop them hunting in packs.

“If juveniles, in particular, start falling in with the wrong crowd, police will be able to step in and give them a chance to cut their ties with gang ­members and get back to hanging out with the right crowd.’’

Mr Guy says he will introduce the nation’s toughest anti-gang laws to deal with a surge in violent home invasions, carjackings, bashings and smash-and-grab crimes — many committed in ­recent years by youth gangs Apex and Menace To Society.

Under the plan, to be ­announced on Saturday at the ­Victorian Liberal Party’s annual meeting, amendments made to the 2012 Criminal Organisations Control Act will be ­repealed and the law will be broadened to break up both “sophisticated’’ and “less organised’’ crime gangs.

Victorian ­Opposition Leader Matthew Guy will announce an unprecedented crackdown on youth crime on Saturday. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Mr Guy said under a government he led, “underlying gang activity’’ behind crimes would be targeted.

With law and order looming as a key battleground in November’s state election, the government is expected to come under pressure to match the crackdown.

Existing anti-consorting laws, unused for three years, have been branded unusable by senior police.

Shadow attorney-general John Pesutto said the key was stripping back “unwieldy’’ ­provisions made under the ­Andrews Government. Among them was the restriction that the law only applied to people aged 18 and over.

Mr Pesutto said because Victoria had the worst problem, it needed the strongest ­solution. “If youth gang members can’t conspire with each other, then they can’t do home invasions together,’’ he said.

A second significant change will be an expansion of the control order regime which targets anyone “declared’’ as an outlaw bikie gang member.

Anyone subjected to a control order will be prohibited from recruiting others to their declared organisation. The ­regime will target current, former or prospective members.

Stop-and-search powers will also be toughened. Police will no longer need a warrant to do that if they are “reasonably suspected’’ of possession of stolen property, tools used to break into houses or steal cars, evidence of an offence punishable by seven years jail, or of wilful damage.

The Andrews Government fired an early salvo in the “tough-on-crime” debate, stating up to 3000 of Victoria’s most notorious criminals would face gun bans next month.

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