Child Crime Rate “Alarming”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32352, 18 July 1970, Page 44

Child Crime Rate “Alarming”

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 17. An “almost staggering” increase in the number of cases handled by the youth aid section of the police is commented on in the annual report of the Child Welfare Division, tabled in Parliament today.

The report cautions against any feeling of satisfaction arising from the relatively small statistical increase of 3 per cent in the number of Children’s Court appearances in 1969.

“A study of the statistics reveals that the rate of increase in 1969 for Children’s Court appearances for offences was down slightly on that for 1968, and that' the rate of increases in j illegitimate births was i smaller than it has been i for some years.

“Lest this situation sounds heartening, some cautionary qualifications should be mentioned,” says the superintendent of the division (Mr L. G. Anderson). In the case of Children’s Court appearances for offences by children aged 10 to 17, the intrinsic figures for the two years were virtually the same, 6960 in 1968 and 6961 in 1969. The rate per 10,000 of the child population 10-17

years of age dropped from 160 (the highest it has ever been) to 157 (the second highest it has ever been). “However, there was a substantial (almost staggering) increase in the number of cases bandied by the youth aid section of the police, where prosecution of children could have been undertaken but were in fact replaced by preventive measures or warnings. “The total jumped from 4791 in 1968 (4511 in 1967) to the alarming total of 7104 in 1969, an increase of 48 per cent This statistic provides no basis for presuming that the drop in the rate of Children’s Court appearances for offences reflects a true drop in the quantum of offending by children,” the report says.

“The reduced rate of increase in illegitimate births also gives no grounds for genuine satisfaction. There is still an increase, and furthermore the increase comes on top of earlier abnormally high increases. A study of the statistics about illegitimate births cannot lead any responsible citizen to be pleased or even complacent” Mr Anderson says that New Zealand might have to condition itself to accepting a greater volume of crime and immorality as the price to be paid for greater permissiveness and for so-called freedom from the kinds of inhibitions and restraints that have in the past helped to keep some people from transgressing against conventions or laws.