Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Luke Kirkness: Concerted effort needed to avoid youth-crime tragedy

Bay of Plenty Times
2 May, 2022 10:35 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Autoplay in
      5
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      Police Minister Poto Williams weighs in on recent ram raids while National call for policy change. Video / NZ Herald

      OPINION:

      Something needs to be done to tackle the alarming rates of crime in the Bay of Plenty, including ram raids.

      A ram raid is a burglary in which the offenders use a vehicle to smash their way into a shop and steal goods - and more of these crimes are happening in the Bay of Plenty.

      Yesterday it was reported they had tripled across the region between 2019 and 2021.

      A local top cop says young people - some as young as 12 - are behind many of these raids.

      Open up the latest news from Rotorua

      Get daily headlines from the Rotorua region straight to your inbox.
      Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
      By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Police also fear car thefts and ram raids involving youths will end in tragedy.

      I have a few questions:

      • Why has there been an increase over the past three years?
      • What can be done to reduce ram-raid crime and what is being done?
      • What has gone on in these young people's lives that they would do this?

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Youth are always going to act up but this sort of behaviour is inexcusable. Photo / Getty Images
      Youth are always going to act up but this sort of behaviour is inexcusable. Photo / Getty Images

      I believe part of the reason is the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living. Annual inflation has hit a 30-year high of 6.9 per cent.

      Police will be expected to do something to stop these crimes but they can't be everywhere.

      Discover more

      New Zealand|crime

      'Somebody's going to die': Where ram raids have tripled in three years

      01 May 06:00 PM
      New Zealand

      Ex-drug kingpin on gun seizures: 'The worst guns' are still with 'the worst people'

      18 Apr 06:00 PM

      But they have responded, and as reported on April 27, 80 offenders had been arrested and more than $100,000 of stolen goods recovered following the launch of Operation Pryor by police in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato districts since February 1.

      One person commenting on yesterday's story believes the rise in youth crime can be traced back to the anti-smacking bill which came into force back in 2007.

      Another commenter says they and their siblings were never physically disciplined and have never broken the law.

      Arguments can be made on both sides of the coin about the benefits of smacking or having the law banning it but the solution to solving youth crimes is far more complex.

      I believe the root of the problem is how these youths are being raised - and the company they keep.

      "You are who your friends are in five years' time", is something my high school principal used to say to us quite a bit and I think it's fitting in this instance.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      More fluffy words from politicians or other decision-makers aren't the answer, but support and discipline from people close to these youths will help.

      Friends and family are often the most impressionable people in one another's lives and it's up to them to call out bad behaviour - and ask for help if they need it.

      There needs to be a concerted effort from parents, schools and the wider community in tackling this problem.

      Otherwise I, too, fear one of these crimes will end in tragedy.

      Subscriber benefit

      The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

      Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
      Save

        Share this article

        Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Rotorua Daily Post

      How a routine traffic stop exposed a Snapchat rapist who attacked a 13yo

      07 Jul 06:00 PM
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

      06 Jul 10:51 PM
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

      06 Jul 06:00 PM

      From early mornings to easy living

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      For Netanyahu and Trump, a vision of ‘peace’ belies Gaza reality
      Analysis

      For Netanyahu and Trump, a vision of ‘peace’ belies Gaza reality

      07 Jul 07:10 PM
      Nonu extends Toulon deal, aged 43
      Rugby

      Nonu extends Toulon deal, aged 43

      07 Jul 07:05 PM
      Where to next? Five dreamy holidays with all the perks
      Travel news

      Where to next? Five dreamy holidays with all the perks

      07 Jul 07:00 PM
      Couple jailed for neglect of 4-year-old were suspected of his murder
      New Zealand

      Couple jailed for neglect of 4-year-old were suspected of his murder

      07 Jul 06:44 PM
      'Human error': Wimbledon sorry after line call system was accidentally turned off
      Tennis

      'Human error': Wimbledon sorry after line call system was accidentally turned off

      07 Jul 06:20 PM

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      How a routine traffic stop exposed a Snapchat rapist who attacked a 13yo

      How a routine traffic stop exposed a Snapchat rapist who attacked a 13yo

      07 Jul 06:00 PM

      Police suspicions were raised by the age gap between 13-yr-old girl and older man in car.

      Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

      Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

      06 Jul 10:51 PM
      Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

      Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

      06 Jul 06:00 PM
      Premium
      Balancing power: What the employment law changes mean for you

      Balancing power: What the employment law changes mean for you

      06 Jul 05:00 PM
      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
      sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search