A Labour MP based in east Auckland says the narrative that youths who commit ram-raids and smash-and-grab burglaries face no consequences for their crimes is false.
Police recently announced hundreds of arrests had been made and thousands of charges laid over offending at retail businesses in Auckland and Waikato in recent months.
Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers says officers across Auckland have arrested 142 youth offenders and laid 1036 charges relating to burglary, robbery and unlawful taking offences since May.
He says some businesses have been targeted by young offenders more than once and it has a huge impact on the victims.
“Police focus continues to be on working to try and prevent this type of offending and continuing to hold to account those responsible and place them before the courts where possible.
“We know that what drives this offending is a complex issue police can’t solve alone, so we have also been working with other agencies on alternative resolutions for some of these young people.
“However, for repetitive offenders, we’re taking a stronger stance.
“Police have opposed bail in many of these cases and we will continue to do so for recidivist offenders who pose a risk to business owners and our wider community.”
Numerous east Auckland businesses have been targeted in ram-raids or smash-and-grab burglaries this year.
They include a dairy, a liquor store, a pizza restaurant, a fruit shop, a health foods store, a jewellery store, a home appliance store, a sushi shop, and the Ormiston Town Centre, among others.
Botany-based Labour List MP Naisi Chen says there needs to be more coverage by the news media of the consequences youths face for such offending.
“I’ve spent hours at the police station having those discussions so I can understand the youth justice system and the answer police give me is that it’s not without consequences.
“Not only do we catch the young perpetrators but we also are able to catch the puppet-master behind them.
“There are people who want those goods taken from the smash-and-grabs and they sell on the black market.
“That person is over the age of 18 so there are more consequences for them, but he or she is smart enough to not go there [to the targeted store] by themselves and they use kids.
“So now the police have tools to get that person behind the scenes as well.”
Chen says some families aren’t getting the necessary support, tools, and education they need to deal with their children when they get into trouble with police.
“I see it as being two parts and one is a societal thing.
“I come from an Asian community where family values and moral values are very strong and are being taught.
“As a migrant coming to New Zealand I sometimes get shocked by what gets said in families of lots of different Kiwi ethnicities.
“The other side is socioeconomic.
“If [a child’s] parents are in jail and they’re being raised by their grandparents, then they don’t have a lot of say over what they [the child] can and cannot do.
“A lot of times they don’t educate the moral side of life and just being able to see a role model.
“If their dad is in prison they don’t see that male role model, and often they go into gangs and with other people who commit crime and they think it’s a cool thing to do.”
