Labour, Greens respond to new youth offender sentencing category, boot camps

The coalition Government is continuing its sweeping crackdown on crime with initiatives targetting youth offenders, gang members and Auckland CBD criminals - but opposing political parties say the efforts will not be effective as they fail to address the core drivers of crime.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Children’s Minister Karen Chhour held a joint press conference where they announced a new sentencing category for serious youth offenders, a pilot programme for a new military-style academy and new police officers for Auckland CBD.

The Green Party said the coalition Government was “ignorant” to the core drivers of youth crime and resorting to boot camps for youth offenders was “inexcusably shallow politics” while Labour called the camps “cruel.”

Luxon told reporters people did not “feel safe in their homes”.

“Nobody should have to fear walking down Queen St here in Auckland, nobody should have to fear going to work, worrying whether their store is going to be robbed or ram-raided.”

“I’m sick of it, Kiwis are sick of it and it’s unacceptable.”

New sentencing category for youth

A new sentencing category – Young Serious Offender – will be introduced, allowing judges to send offenders to military-style academies.

It would apply to teenagers aged 14 to 17 years at the time of the offending, have had two offences punishable by imprisonment of 10 years or more proven in court are assessed as being likely to reoffend with previous interventions having proven unsuccessful.

Oranga Tamariki was leading the development of the category and legislation to create the category would be passed by the end of the year.

“We are talking about the worst, recidivist, violent youth offenders,” Mitchell said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Police Comissioner Andrew Coster. Photo / Ben Dickens

“It is safer for them to take them out of the community and it’s much safer for the community not to have them there.”

A $5.1 million pilot military-style training programme would start at the end of July and include 10 participants.

Labour’s children’s spokeswoman Willow-Jean Prime said sending these kinds of children, many of whom would have experienced abuse of suffered deep trauma, to the camps could cause further harm.

“Forcing these kinds of children into boot camps is cruel and takes our youth rehabilitative system backwards.

“To spend more than $5m on a pilot for 10 kids, when we’re in dire need of more youth aid officers and social workers, is simply another example of the Government making the wrong choices yet again.”

Green Party spokeswoman for justice Tamatha Paul said the Government’s approach to addressing youth crime was “archaic” and such punitive policies would not address the core drivers of crime and set young people up to fail.

“The Prime Minister may say he’s ‘sick of it’ when it comes to youth crime but is ignorant to the core drivers behind why young people fall into crime.”

Green MP for Wellington Central Tamatha Paul. Photo / Georgina Campbell

Drivers were often backgrounds of abuse, trauma, mental health problems, learning disabilities and lack of support.

“It’s well established that when young people are supported with the basics, like decent housing and nutritious kai, and have opportunities to learn and contribute to their communities, it’s less likely they will turn to crime.

Throwing these kids into boot camps is inexcusably shallow politics, and if anything it’s likely to increase reoffending.

Luxon also zeroed in on gangs, saying they were “amongst the biggest peddlers of crime and misery in New Zealand” and had been allowed to operate above the law for too long.

“Gangs want all the rights of being Kiwis but none of the responsibilities that come with those rights.”

From November, being part of a gang would be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing and gang patches would be banned in public.

“For too long, they’ve been allowed to operate as if they are above the law. I can assure you, those days are coming to an end because this year we would have implemented a whole lot of laws that gangs will not like.

Asked if he knew whether the gangs concerned about the impending laws, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said: “We’ve had all sorts of murmurings from gangs. We don’t spend a lot of time talking to them, but I am confident they are worried about the patch ban and the effect it will have.”

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Mitchell said police would have a “whole suite new powers” inspired by Australia “where they have already proven to be effective to clamp down, disrupt and start putting so much pressure on the gangs they might even consider leaving the gang lifestyle and rejoining society in a positive way.”

More cops in central Auckland

Meanwhile, Mitchell and Coster also announced new community police teams would be established in major cities across New Zealand, targeting crime and anti-social behaviour.

Coster said the new Community Beat Teams will provide a more visible, reassuring and responsive policing presence on main streets, shopping malls and transport hubs.

“Our intent is to move to a 24/7 beat model in the CBD, working on a rostered basis with five teams, each led by a Sergeant, to increase police visibility around the clock,” Coster said.

The teams would be rolled out from July onwards.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.