Invercargill youth crime on the rise, sparking public meeting and tough talk from mayor

Invercargill youth crime is rising, the mayor says, and he has called for a public meeting to talk it over. Photo / Getty Images

Invercargill’s mayor says youth crime in the southern-most city is escalating and tougher stances need to be taken.

Mayor Nobby Clark has called for a public meeting tonight to discuss an “inappropriate level of youth crime,” including property crime, stolen vehicles, assault, and threats to councillors and council staff.

Speaking to the Herald, Clark described an incident several months ago where a serious assault took place in the city’s CBD, which involved a threat to the Government, and police were tasked to intervene.

“To me, that’s getting to the upper echelons of crime when you’re dealing with that, and Youth Aid’s not the way to deal with that person,” he said.

“Some of these people are quite bulletproof, they think you can’t physically touch them because they tend to be children.”

One of the major facets of youth crime in the city, he said, was car thefts, with many of the vehicles being dumped or burnt out after being driven around.

Clark said some of the city’s retailers were “absolutely petrified” that if they put their hand up or made any comment, they would be further targeted.

Tonight’s meeting will be attended by elected members, police, Community Patrol and National MP Penny Simmonds.

Clark said its purpose was to gather input and work towards a solution.

“We thought that it was time for the MPs to hear from us that we need more resources on the ground,” he said.

One of the questions he planned to raise was if Youth Aid was an appropriate system for dealing with serious offenders and holding young people accountable for their actions.

Though he said it was not just a Police issue, he questioned if Invercargill had enough Police to deal with youth crime.

“We’ve got to work with the police and others to make sure that they’ve got materials in place,” he said.

He said he hoped that Invercargill would get its share of the 500 police promised by the coalition government.

Southland Area Commander Inspector Mike Bowman said police were generally supportive of any initiatives or discussion around matters such as youth crime, and would have a representative at the meeting.

“We understand the public concern around youth crime in Invercargill and are working alongside our community partners to do our bit,” Bowman said.

“However, it is not something police can solve alone. It requires everyone in our community to help empower and support our young people to live full and active lives.”

A number of agencies were working together to help local whanau and prevent youth from falling into patterns of crime, as well as helping those who do find themselves going down the wrong path, to get back on a right one, he said.

In terms of enforcement, police were able to identify those young people committing offences and hold them to account.

“If certain ingredients are met, Police can and do prosecute youth for certain offences. These guidelines are written in law. However, where possible Police look for alternative resolutions for young people, such as family group conferences, or a restorative action plan which could include things like community work.”

He said it was also important to remember that was usually a small group of young people who committed multiple offences.

The public meeting will be held tonight at 7pm at the Civic Theatre.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.