Philippa Stevenson: Controversy dogs young crooks

Justice has become a loaded word in the Hillcrest suburb of Hamilton.

There are those who hope to do right by boys who repeatedly get on the wrong side of the law. It would be in the form of a three-year rehabilitation pilot programme designed to help youths aged 14 to 17 deal with the problems, bad habits and lack of skills that underscore their offending. In effect, they'd volunteer to turn their lives around.

The Ministry of Justice brainchild, which has enthusiastic backing from social agencies and police, is called Te Hurihanga - the turning point.

Then there are those who feel the insecure, residential centre, which, after all, is intended for up to eight young lawbreakers who have the greatest likelihood of reoffending, has been foisted on their neighbourhood in a highly unjust fashion.

They can be excused for thinking that way. It's a plan with baggage.

Only a few weeks ago, in pre-election hotspot dousing, the same controversial proposal was abandoned across town after fierce opposition in Melville.

It resurfaced in well-to-do Hillcrest after a Hamilton City Council site selection steering committee, headed by councillor Daphne Bell, checked out 13 other sites before fully assessing nine.

The committee's report to Justice Minister Phil Goff is confidential but Bell said the Hillcrest site went to the top of the list after it met criteria including being on bus routes, suitably zoned, and affordable.

The grassy corner chosen for the lookalike large, family home is within Te Ara Hou social services village - a 3.5ha complex where Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian agencies are based with other counselling and support services, a retirement village and an Anglican friary.

"The site at Te Ara Hou was distinguished by the attitude of the agencies represented," said Bell.

But not by the near neighbours. Louise Milne is a spokeswoman for the newly formed Hillcrest Action Group that has amassed a thousand-signature petition against the unit.

"We feel the facility is being forced on us," she said.

The weight of opposition the petition represents appears in conflict with a survey taken by the Waikato Times which found that half the 305 people polled supported the centre's being built in Hamilton, with a third opposed and the remainder undecided.

But Milne said probably half of her group supported the idea of the facility, too, just not near them.

She's offended that her group's been painted as white, middle class Nimbys who lack compassion. Many of the area's people are involved in police, justice and education, she said. "We know the kids we're talking about."

The group was unhappy the centre's residents wouldn't be under lock and key, and those backing the proposal were leading community consultation.

Justice Ministry project manager for Te Hurihanga Robyn George said that while strong, the action group was one voice in a divided Hillcrest. There was also huge support for Te Hurihanga, which was very encouraging "and most unusual".

The centre would not house violent people and it wasn't a prison but a therapeutic facility designed for boys from the surrounding community who needed to be close to their schools and homes. "Why treat them like pariahs when you want them to be constructive members of the community?" George said. "They have to learn to handle the temptations in the community, not be out in the rural areas."

The head of Police Youth Aid section in Hamilton, Sergeant Lance Tebbutt, is "over the moon" at the prospect of the centre, which, he says, he could fill many times over.

According to Police and Justice Ministry figures, more than half of the offending by under-17-year-olds are dishonesty offences, mostly theft of goods. A fifth is shoplifting. Violence makes up one in 10 of all offences; drug offences, antisocial behaviour and property abuse each make up about one in 20.

Currently, boys within the Youth Court system who would qualify for the programme are in the community - at large, some at large but on bail conditions while others are in Child, Youth and Family care, Tebbutt said.

George said three "care and protection" homes were already established in Hillcrest but had not raised community concerns.

She hoped Te Hurihanga - wherever eventually sited - would one day similarly go unnoticed but for its success in turning around young lives. If it did, the programme could be replicated around the country.

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft has noted huge regional variations in youth offending, with some areas having significant reductions.

"This is usually due to good local practice and co-operation between Government agencies and the community, and particularly because of pro-active and creative policing by the Police Youth Aid section."

It remains to be seen what sort of community Hillcrest and Hamilton is.