Juvenile ringleaders will be targeted in a new police operation to address a scourge of regional crime which is seeing children as young as 10 commit serious offences to pursue social media infamy.
Announcing the crackdown, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said social media was a key driver with groups of children trying to “outdo” one another.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb in Dubbo, one of the areas which will have random police patrols to address the increase in youth violence. Credit: Louise Kennerley
“It’s just about the excitement, the boasting, outdoing each other … competing to see who can steal the fastest, best car,” she said.
“We need a circuit breaker – I’m worried we’re going to lose a generation of children.”
While children in cities steal cars to sell to organised crime groups, youth crime in regional areas is driven by local fame and social media likes, Webb said. As children try to outdo one another, the severity of the crime escalates. “We’ve had elderly people who have been bashed. It’s not out of belief that someone will be killed,” she said.
Using the hashtag “Creepin While Ya Sleepin”, children upload photos of the cars they’ve stolen, the houses they’ve broken into and, in some terrifying examples, pictures of themselves posting with weapons over the occupants’ sleeping bodies.
Ringleaders and reoffenders will be a major focus of the new police operation. Webb said an alarming number of children as young as 10 were reoffending within 36 hours of being released from police custody, while ringleaders were recruiting younger children to crawl through pet doors and assist with break-ins, or commit more serious offending as they’re less likely to face jail time.
Last March, a five-year-old was involved in a Moree break-and-enter.
“We are seeing babies, almost, they’re just so tiny, carrying large weapons that are almost half their body length and breaking into homes,” Webb said.
“The police brace themselves for kids coming back out [of custody] because they know there’ll be another wave of crime.”
Operation Soteria will see 80 officers – 60 dedicated and 20 supplementary officers redeployed from other stations across the state – randomly patrol nine key areas, including Dubbo, Moree, Tamworth and Newcastle.
The aim is to address an escalation of violence in offenders aged 11 to 16, focusing on aggravated break, enter and steal offences and car theft. Police will also monitor social media to identify kids promoting their crime online.
Since new “post and boast” legislation came into effect 12 months ago, 53 people have been charged, 27 of whom were under 16. The new laws impose an additional two-year penalty for those who advertise their criminal involvement on social media. This week, a 16-year-old was sentenced to two years under the new laws after he stole a luxury car in Moree, drove it at 150 km/h and posted about it on Snapchat.
Young offenders identified under Operation Soteria will be referred to programs to address youth reoffending.
“Our job, though, is to protect the community [and] if the community is under threat, we have to do something. It certainly breaks my heart and I’m sure I’m not the only police officer concerned that we’re in this position.”
Data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research indicate the number of young people proceeded against to court by NSW Police has been stable over the past two and ten years. In the year to the December 2024 quarter, there was an increase in the number of young people in court for break and enter, weapons, and non-domestic violence assault offences, but decreases in other offences.
Career cop in a ‘male’ hat
Webb toured NSW’s central west in the lead-up to Operation Soteria’s announcement, meeting officers at regional stations.
The region is about three hours from her hometown of Boorowa, where she chose to be formally commissioned instead of at Sydney’s government house – a nod to her focus on the regions and her discontent with pomp and celebrity.
Webb, in the rural town of Gulgong, meeting with children of a local officer.Credit: Louise Kennerley
The Herald was invited for a behind-the-scenes look at Webb’s operation – a rare opportunity to get to know a traditionally media-shy commissioner who has gone through five top media advisers in her three-year tenure.
Going from a career cop to the chief executive of a 20,000-strong workforce – and becoming one of the state’s highest-paid public servants, with a salary topping $680,000 – has been an adjustment, but one Webb said she has grown into.
However, she would not be pressed on whether she’d stay past her five-year tenure: “One day we’ll wake up and say, I’ve done as much as I can, and I’ll let everyone know … but I’ve got more work to do.”
As commissioner, she has overseen responses to the Bondi massacre, the alleged murders of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird by off-duty officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, and the Dural caravan terror plot now suspected to be a “con job” fabricated by organised criminals.
As the state’s first female commissioner, Webb acknowledges she has a different approach, moving away from a culture that can sometimes be “blokey”. She is apolitical, doesn’t typically rub shoulders with journalists, and is not interested in self-promotion.
“I think I get benchmarked against men and that’s difficult because I’m a woman … my skills are different,” she said.
Children – both as victims and perpetrators of crime – have been a long-standing focus of Webb’s career, while culture is a major focus of Webb’s tenure.
Webb visiting Wellington Police Station in NSW.Credit: Louise Kennerley
In November, she announced an independent review of police culture, with the final report due later this year. She was the first commissioner to attend the funeral of an officer who died by suicide. She’s introduced the full-time equivalent model to allow employees to work part-time or job-share, and introduced reforms to improve injured employees’ work and health outcomes. One of her proudest achievements was last year’s historic pay rise, with the force awarded a 19 per cent base pay increase over four years.
She’s protective of her officers but is also quick to shun those who discredit the force. Those who don’t uphold the Police Act values are “not one of mine,” she said.
She’s eager to recruit more women, acknowledging police culture is improved in stations with more diversity. She’s changed the uniform rules, allowing female officers to wear the same hat as their male colleagues – which she also wears.
“I may be a bit unconventional … but everywhere I go I try to make a difference both to officers and the community,” she said.
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