Curfew gets support of Welfare Minister

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 1

Curfew gets support of Welfare Minister

PA Wellington The Minister of Social Welfare, Mr Young, said yesterday that he supported police action in dealing with children found late at night in Taumarunui.

The policeman behind the Taumarunui curfew, SeniorSergeant Geoffrey Brand, said last evening that people were too emotional and could not see beyond the word “curfew.”

In Auckland, a police spokesman said that since November the police had been removing children from the streets at night. Mr Young said there were ample powers in the Children and Young Persons Act to enable the police to pick up unaccompanied children found in public places.

Earlier yesterday, the Minister of Police, Mr Couch, said that the Taumarunui police acted illegally by imposing a curfew on children, but “good on them for using common sense.”

Mr Couch said he did not think there was any legal right for the police to ban children from the streets late at night, but he would not stop the actiOh.

He also said he believed the “same common-sense approach” was used in other parts of the country. Mr Young said that the act was amended in 1982 to .’enable the police to take children and return them to their homes.

“If the police cannot find the parents or guardians they are able to deliver the child to , officers of the Social Welfare Department until arrangements can be made to bring the matter before the court or return the children home when conditions are satisfactory,” he said. The Taumarunui initia-

tive came after successful undertakings in South Auckland and Wellington where the police, acting with social workers, Maatua Whangai fostering scheme staff, Maori wardens, and members of community groups, were able to take children aimlessly hanging about town centres and divert them into useful activities. They also provided temporary care if necessary.

“Although there has been criticism of the actions of the Taumarunui police in some quarters, if these actions have the effect of protecting children and reminding parents of their responsibilities then that is a good thing,” Mr Young said.

In Taumarunui, the police have imposed a curfew on children under 16, barring them from the streets after 11.30 p.m. and primary schoolchildren after 10 p.m. unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Children found on the streets after those times •will either be taken to the police station and their parents told or taken straight home.

When parents cannot be found or are judged to be incapable of looking after their child, he or she will be placed in the care of a family under the Maatua Whangai programme. Senior-Sergeant Brand said people were not looking past the word “curfew” to see what the police and Maatua Whangai were trying to do. “We set a time only so

kids would know where they stand, instead of just saying ‘late at night’,” said. Mr Brand.

He said the police and Maatua Whangai were trying to do something positive for the children out late at night whom they considered were at risk.

Senior-Sergeant Angela Harwood, who is in charge of the youth aid section of Auckland police, said the decision of Taumarunui police to impose a curfew for children came as “nothing new.”

She said hundreds of children had been reunited with parents or guardians, or placed in welfare homes.

Throughout the summer the Auckland police had been using tactics similar to those used in Taumarunui, although a formal curfew had not been announced, she said.

In Auckland children were picked up by the police if they did not catch the last bus home from the city.

“We cannot just say to the kids: ‘You cannot be on the streets after that hour’,” she said. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, however, police could pick up young people under some circumstances.

She said police could take action if a child was unaccompanied, was considered to be in a detrimental environment or was associating with known criminals or drug addicts.

“They might fit into one or all of those categories,” she said. “Most of it is fairly basic common sense.”