Police push for funding to craft program to keep kids away from crime

Residents across Tamworth and Gunnedah felt the brunt of car thefts, overnight break and enters, and police pursuits involving young offenders during 2023.

Police jumped on the incidents in the mid-year, and youth crime rates decreased, but police are hoping funding for a new program could help stamp out the issue and put kids on a different path.

Oxley detectives made a dent in youth crime under Operation Mongoose which saw a number of arrests, charges laid, and offenders put behind bars after a spate of property offences in 2023.

But Oxley Police District Superintendent Bruce Grassick told the Leader the force was currently seeking funding to craft a specific program to avoid arrests, reduce spikes in crime, and keep kids away from custody.

"If kids are incarcerated they are more likely to reoffend," Superintendent Grassick said.

"The more we can keep kids and youth out of the criminal justice system, the better it is for the youth and their families, and the better it is for the community.

"We will work extensively to do that."

Superintendent Grassick said programs for kids engaged in schools, participating at the Youthie, and involved in sporting groups have been helping kids create positive relationships with police and expose them to role models within the community.

He said these programs had been operating as "circuit breakers" in a bid to disrupt generational crime.

"We want to try and have that circuit breaker where we are engaging, interacting, disrupting and preventing them [youth] from committing crimes," he told the Leader.

"We don't want them before the court, we don't want these kids in the criminal justice system.

"We're trying to prevent that as much as we possibly can."

But what the Oxley Police District is currently working towards is a long term support program for kids already engaged in the criminal justice system.

"There's a lot of work being done with engaged kids, kids that are in school ... but when we look at what we're doing for disengaged youth, there's not a lot in Tamworth," Superintendent Grassick said.

He said the lack of a prolonged support program is a contributing factor to the cycle and spikes of youth crime in Tamworth, where young offenders return to the community without the relevant support and skills in place, increasing the risk of reoffending.

Officers are looking at programs similar to BackTrack in Armidale, and RuffTrack in the Hawkesbury to design a plan of action focused around long-term engagement.

But, for the program to be a success, it's about making it Tamworth specific, the Superintendent said.

A number of programs are already underway across the region using things like sport, work ready training, and activities to show kids, many being young boys, they have opportunities outside of crime.

Officers in Tamworth have already seen programs bring about great success, but what is lacking is long term support.

Superintendent Grassick said one young male offender, who unfortunately found himself in police custody, told officers participating in a previous program was the "best time" in his life.

"It may have been a small moment in time, but it shows that if you give them the right direction and the right focus, they will look at that and go towards it," he said.

He said modelling what the program might look like had seen a multitude of support from other agencies, government bodies, and the local councils.

"It's a community driven concept, because it has to be right for the community," Superintendent Grassick said.

"We can't do the heavy lifting, there's got to be others involved, it's a real collaborative approach in the Oxley Police District."

One of the most important aspects of the model will be ensuring there is long term engagement to support a desire for change.

Superintendent Grassick said the program would support young people who were not quite ready for mainstream schooling to acquire work and life skills and provide them with a support network.

"We believe it's something tangible and needed for our community," he said.

Superintendent Grassick said developing the model would take more consultation to get it right, but everyone involved was "motivated" to keep the community's kids on the right path.

"Everyone is supportive of it, and moving in the right direction," Superintendent Grassick said.

"Now it's just trying to bring all those moving parts together, get the funding, and get this off the ground."