Peter McKenna, the Dubbo cop who’s thinking outside the box

In Dubbo, police are building bridges with young Aboriginal offenders - and the results have been remarkable.

Police superintendent Peter McKenna arrived in Dubbo, one of NSW’s toughest commands, as a hard-bitten cop who was there to hold offenders to account through the criminal justice system. But one particular subset of offenders, Aboriginal teens, were being charged and jailed, only to reoffend, at alarmingly high rates. He told journalist Greg Bearup: “It was really troubling me. I thought, ‘Someone really ought to be doing something with these kids’… and then I realised that someone was me.”

You only need to look at the photograph on our cover to get the gist of the story. Bridges are being built with all kids, with some remarkable results. I hope this photo is seen far and wide – particularly in places like Townsville and Alice Springs battling their own youth crime crises.