Curfew for Taumarunui children

Press, 7 March 1984, Page 1

Curfew for Taumarunui children

PA New Plymouth Children in Taumarunui will face a police curfew on the town’s streets at night. Those under 16 will be barred from the streets after 11.30 p.m., and primary schoolchildren from 10 p.m., unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, said Senior-Ser-geant G. C. Brand yesterday. The 11.30 p.m. deadline would allow children time to get home from the cinema. He said the problem of children roaming the streets had concerned the police for some time and although the curfew might sound harsh the police were trying to take a positive step. The Children and Young Persons Act made provision for a child, unaccompanied by a parent or guardian at night, to be taken home by the police, or to the police station from where their parents could be asked to collect them. “Where parents cannot be found or are found to be incapable of looking after the child, the child will be placed in the care of a family under the Maatua Whangai programme,” Senior-Sergeant Brand said. The programme is run by volunteers, mainly Maori, to help children with family difficulties.

Friday nights were the main problem. Last Friday, Senior-Sergeant Brand and Senior Constable T. R. Kay found 14 children aged 13 to 15 on the town’s streets at midnight.

“Twelve of these children were found in a group of 15 juveniles lying on the grass at a reserve at 12.15 a.m. All 15 were Maori. Although they were not doing anything more than smoking cigarettes, they are considered to be at risk by being out that late unsupervised,” he said. More than half of the children had come to the notice of the police previously for petty theft, bullying, and truancy. Superintendent James Morgan, who is responsible for youth aid nationally and the director of public affairs at Police National Headquarters said that the curfew was a community effort backed by the police to overcome a local problem. “The police have a responsibility to prevent ,crime and to support the community and its efforts to look after young people at risk,” he said. “There are very many responsible and competent parents in Taumarunui who are doing an excellent job in raising their children. But' there are' others who are unable to control their children, and this is where Senior-Sergeant Brand and his staff are helping.” The police were acting on behalf of a worried community and parents in particular. Mr Morgan said that similar action had been taken in Wellington recently where children at risk had been housed and fed. Such action also had been taken in North Auckland as part of a community service.