Linda Hall
One of my neighbours knocked on my door on Saturday afternoon.
She wanted to let me know they had been burgled "quite badly" on Friday, between 11am and 1pm.
Their home was ransacked. Every drawer and cupboard opened, laptops, money, shoes, clothes and bags to carry the stolen goods all gone. However, worse still, the thieves had taken house and car keys.
The house locks were changed on Friday but before they could do anything about the car locks they needed someone from their insurance company to give them the go-ahead.
"They didn't want to know about it."
You guessed it, Saturday night the car was stolen.
"I feel so stupid about letting them take it."
She's shaken and feels vulnerable, as do her children, and she absolutely shouldn't feel bad.
Luckily the car was recovered yesterday, a bit worse for wear but still okay.
There is also a lovely labrador that lives in the house. The dog stays inside during the day because, "we were afraid someone might steal him".
Man's best friend is in big trouble for being a little too friendly and fraternising with the enemy, apparently even accepting food from them.
I feel like I've let them down as well. I wrote not that long ago about watching out for your neighbours.
Both Mr Neat and I were home at the time of the burglary. We saw nothing.
From what was taken, it's likely to have been children. Children who should have been at school but instead were obviously watching the neighbours' house.
Her husband was home at 11am and left the house for just two hours. The culprits most likely watched him leave.
If you watch the news you would have seen the shocking footage of children furiously kicking at a service-station door trying to gain entry.
These children are out of control and have no respect for anyone or anything.
They would have known there were cameras but simply didn't care because they knew that, as juveniles, there would be no consequences.
There have been numerous calls for harsher penalties for young criminals. People saying police need to take a "hard line" and the justice system is all for the young criminal, not the victim, and "more than a slap with a wet bus ticket" is needed.
Yesterday the Herald on Sunday ran a story about a 12-year-old girl bitten by a police dog. The police were, of course, criticised.
So here's the problem - we can't have it both ways. We can't call or tougher actions and then get upset when it happens.
I'm not saying dogs should be used to subdue children. However, in this case the sole police officer was responding to a call about three people of unknown ages breaking into vehicles.
The dog tracked the suspects, who were repeatedly asked to come out of a childcare centre in which they were hiding. When they didn't, he released the dog.
He had no idea of ages, he just knew there were multiple offenders and they were believed to have weapons.
These children have to realise that if they break the law they must face the consequences.
Maybe, just maybe, this girl will have had the fright of her life and be tucked up in bed at midnight from now on, as all 12-year-olds should. Maybe it's changed the pattern of her life.
Our prisons are full. We need to deal with these children before they are old enough to be sent to prison.
Which brings me to money.
We need more for police and more for education from kindergartens to schools to programmes to help these children realise that earning their own money is much more satisfying than stealing from others.
* Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today