The changes to the Bail Act,passed through NSW parliament last month,add an extra test for 14-to-18-year-olds already on bail for serious break-and-enter or car theft charges who seek further bail for the same offences.
Police,magistrates and judges would need a “high degree of confidence” they would not commit a further “serious indictable offence”,which carries a minimum punishment of five years in jail,if granted bail again.
Minns revealed the bail amendments as part of a $26.2 million package focused on curbing a regional spike in violent youth crime like robberies and car theft,$13.4 million of which would help Moree. Last week,this masthead reported children as young as five in western NSW were breaking into homes and stealing cars.
Indigenous,legal groups andthe opposition slammed the new laws as likely to lead to more young people locked up for longer.
However,Minns defended the changes,telling reporters in Moree they were “finely calibrated”.
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“We haven’t just introduced a law-and-order response. We’re also looking at the amount of money we spend on pre-crime diversion programmes,particularly for adolescents,particularly for regional communities,particularly for Indigenous communities,” he said.
“And I’m convinced if we get that balance right,we can reduce the rate of reoffending and crime before it even is committed”.
Minns said his “great fear” was a young person committing a serious driving offence where they kill themselves,their loved ones or a member of the public.
Asked if he would consider a potential curfew if youth crime is not curbed in Moree,Minns said he would assess the new measures before announcing anything else.
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Last Wednesday,a two-week state of emergency was declared in the Northern Territory town of Alice Springs,where violent youth crime has skyrocketed,with a nighttime curfew enforced in the CBD for children.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb said NSW Police was “well-resourced” in the youth crime prevention space,where its youth engagement officers act as a contact point for police,community,and schools as well as mentor young people.
As the head of aforce short of 1500 officers,Webb was asked whether she needed more officers.
“I mean,we’ll have to wait to see how it[Project Pathfinder] goes,” she said,and stressed a focus on youth crime prevention.
“We’re already working PCYC[a youth organisation focussing on crime prevention],with schools,with other groups and agencies,so we’re already working in that space … This is another avenue for us to partner with someone outside of government”.
- With Clare Sibthorpe
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