Deb Hann
This week I want to focus on youth. School has started back up and so often it is when our youth are truant or being negatively influenced by mates that they can end up making bad decisions. Keep those lines of communication open so that you know who your son or daughter is hanging out with and what is going on in their world.
When youth get into trouble, they are dealt with by the Police Youth Aid section.
Youth Aid officer Constable Danica Hibdige with Charlie and Mischa Beadle.
In Cambridge, Constable Danica Hibdige has recently returned to her Youth Aid role after a period of maternity leave. In Te Awamutu, Senior Constable Scott Miller holds the Youth Aid position. Youth Aid officers undergo specific training in the Children Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 and its application in the areas of youth justice, care and protection. Under the act, 14–17-year-olds are considered young people, while those under 14 are children. Young People may be dealt with by the Youth Court.
When a young person offends, a file is created by the attending officers and passed through to the Youth Aid officers for follow up action. The consequences will vary depending on the severity of the crime as well as the individual youth’s past history of offending. The outcomes can range from a formal warning to alternative action plan involving, for example, an apology, community service, agency engagement and reparation or in the more serious cases, a Family Group Conference and Youth Court. While going through a youth court process, a young person will be subject to youth court bail conditions such as non-association and curfew conditions, aimed at curbing their negative behaviours and disrupting their offending.
The Youth Aid process aims at preventative interventions to redirect youth from a criminal pathway. Recent youth offending files have included shoplifting, attempted theft of cars, wilful damage and graffiti.
Lastly today, in the week prior to writing, Cambridge Police dealt with; an assault, a mental health incident, four traffic crashes, five burglaries, 10 car crime, theft, two fraud reports, two cases of wilful damage, five family harm incidents, three drink drivers and a suspended driver.
In Te Awamutu, staff dealt with three assaults, three threats and intimidation incidents, two mental health matters, three traffic crashes, six family harm incidents, disorderly behaviour, 10 burglaries, six car crime, two shoplifting incidents, two fraud matters, a trespass matter and two drink drive cases.
Senior Constable Deb Hann and Danica Hibdige.
