Carnarvon Community Patrol notice changes in troubled town

There’s something happening on the embattled streets of a remote Australian town that has almost completely reshaped the community.

Sarah* was visibly panicked as she approached Courtney Mongoo in Western Australia’s Carnarvon Central Shopping Centre.

“He’s got bail conditions. He can’t be in there,” she cried.

“Can you go talk to him?”

Courtney took to the aisles to seek out the teenage boy who had ignored his mother’s efforts to stop him from entering the Woolworths, where the youngster was said to be legally barred from going inside.

It took Courtney less than a minute to convince the teenager to leave the shop.

The Woolies staff appeared none the wiser, the police weren’t called, and the teenager was spared what would no doubt be serious legal repercussions.

It was just after 6pm on Thursday in mid-June, and unaccompanied children filled the plaza. Others wandered the main street of the remote coastal WA town, roughly 900km north of Perth.

Youth of Carnarvon walk the streets. Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

Flanked by fellow Patrol member Jackie Cameron, Courtney was just minutes into her Carnarvon Community Patrol shift.

The newly formed foot patrol operates four nights a week from 6pm onwards in the small town that of late has been targeted with heavy alcohol restrictions and an increased police presence after a recent spike in crime.

Its main aim is to keep young people out of trouble while doing its best to check in with them regarding their wellbeing.

The Aboriginal Biodiversity Conservation Foundation funds the initiative and works in partnership with a community bus put on by the local shire.

Jackie Cameron and Courtney Mongoo from the Carnarvon Community Patrol. Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

Led mainly by First Nations locals, the Patrol keeps an eye on the main areas of town where the kids usually hang out.

“When they are really mucking up, we ask them to leave (the CBD). But we’re more about engagement – teaching them right from wrong,” Courtney explained as she sat down on her chair in the corner of the plaza, one eye still on the teenager as he left the building.

Jackie joined and explained a typical Carnarvon weeknight.

Carnarvon is situated on the Western Australian Coast – about 900km north of Perth Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

“Last night, I had a few girls who were hungry, so I took them in and bought them some chips and a drink, and they were putting chocolates in their pockets,” she said.

“I said, ‘Take the chocolates out of ya pockets and grab a big bar, and I’ll buy it for ya.’

“They put all the chocolates back – we want them to know there’s no need to steal, just come and see us.”

“The main reason I think they’re stealing is because they’re hungry.”

Doing the rounds

“Hello! Just checking in,” Courtney told the woman attending tote at the local TAB.

“A couple came by earlier, but they just kept walking – pretty quiet tonight,” the woman responded.

“No worries - catch you later.”

This was repeated, with much the same response, at all of the other businesses still open on the main strip.

Local businesses in town see massive merit in the Patrol, as members will often do a lap of the main street.

The Patrol keeps an eye on the kids on the streets of Carnarvon. Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

In fact, Paul Dixon, the Carnarvon Chamber Of Commerce and Industry president, told news.com.au property damage in the CBD is now “almost zero” since the spike late last year and early 2023, when smashed cars or shopfronts were reportedly a nightly occurrence.

Courtney said the small CBD had become a well-oiled machine, with efficient lines of communication between business owners, the Patrol and the community bus, which is on standby to take kids home.

“If there’s a group that aren’t listening to em, and they’ve taken off up that way, we can just ring the bus and say they’ve gone up that way,” she explained.

While News.com.au tagged along with the Patrol, one local servo even offloaded almost its entire bain-marie to Courtney and Jackie as they did the rounds, food that didn’t take long to find its way to the kids still on the street and in the plaza.

“We’re just here to calm them down, speak to them in good ways. They tend to respond to that better,” Jackie said.

“It used to be really bad (before the patrol).”

“You can see the difference anyways, all the kids are pretty respectful now.”

She too sees great merit in the service, which many said filled a void in town.

Police talk to youth on a quadbike at a service station in downtown Carnarvon. Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

“Our presence has calmed them down a bit – it’s something I think could work in the other towns you see on telly,” she said.

“Each kid that’s playing up, if we talk to them and calm them down, then the police don’t have to worry about coming down here.”

And there are promising signs a safe space in town will be made available to the Patrol where the children can hang out.

Kids are still out at night

The sad reality, however, is despite the new Patrol, more cops in town, and some of the nation’s harshest alcohol laws explicitly aimed and improving the safety of kids in Carnarvon, the change in numbers on the streets has been negligible.

“I couldn’t tell you if there’s more out now than before the restrictions,” Jackie said.

“A lot of people say it’s not the alcohol that’s the trouble in this town, it’s the drugs, which I suppose is everywhere (in WA).”

“There’s nothing at home. Their parents might be drinking, there could be no food, so they’re just out here probably catching up with their mates.”

Jackie Cameron and Courtney Mongoo take to the Carnarvon streets at night. Picture: Jon Gellweiler/news.com.au

“If their parents are on drugs, there’s probably no TV, so they come around here to get away from it all.”

“I think it’s just bad publicity that’s given us a bad name.”

Courtney added: “For ages, everyone just walked around like these kids were invisible, and of course, that’s how they’re gonna feel.”

But on Patrol nights, at least for a few hours, the kids of Carnarvon are now seen, and they are now heard.

This story is part of a series on the impacts of Carnarvon’s newly implemented liquor restrictions.