It’s the same old gang making crime headlines

Press, 23 October 1984, Page 8

It’s the same old gang making crime headlines

The news from New Zealand’s youthful crime front may not be as bad as it seems. Katherine Trought, a member of the University of Canterbury post-graduate journalism course, reports.

We live in the midst of a “crime wave.” Or do we? Many people working in the penal field say things are not as bad as they are made out to be. Warren Pasley is a social worker with the Department of Social Welfare, and spends most of his time in the Children and Young Persons Court. "Crime is becoming more sophisticated, but the proportion of the population is still the same,” he says. “It’s a minor proportion that comes back again and again — the habitual offenders, with a lot of publicity.” The offenders are young. They start around the age of 12 or 13; the greatest numbers are aged 17 to 23; and less than five per cent are over the age of 25. In 1976, more than 10,500 individual cases were brought before the Children and Young Persons Court. In 1981, the most recent national statistics, there were just under 11,500. Traditionally, young people have stolen property. More than 60 per cent of the offences brought to the Children and Young Persons Court in 1981 were for theft and burglary. Violent offences made up less than 10 per cent . Mr Pgsley says the offences are caused by a core of habituals, but the things they are up to are changing. “I have seen more aggravated crime in the past 12 months than in the previous 10 years.” “Hand over or get thumped” is, he maintains, becoming much more common — for a leather jacket, or for 20 cents. “What concerns me is the attitude of the offender, that society owes them something. They’ve been shortchanged, so society deserves whatever they choose to hand over,” he adds. Senior Constable Basil Boyd is with the Youth Aid Section of the Christchurch Police Department. He says that in the last seven years he has worked in the . department crime has not increased significantly. Certainly not as much as people like to imagine. Young people are largely doing the things they have always done: theft, motor

vehicles, burglary, shop-lift-

ing. “There’s a little bit of* violence occurring, depending on the-groups around at the time.” Violence tends to come and go. with groups like Black Power and the Junior Mongrel Mob. . William Runciman, In-. specter of Probation and Community Services, Wellington, believes' the same age groups are up to the same mischief, taking the

‘Glue sniffing can adequately be dealt with by existing laws'

same risks as they always have. However, he says changes in the law are partly responsible for the observed increase in crime. “Things are illegal these days which were not years ago.” Having a hypodermic syringe in your, possession without good reason, smoking marijuana or opium were not offences. Today they are illegal. Glue sniffing may become the latest item on the list of new offences. Legislation is being introduced into Parliament later this year which could make “solvent inhaling” illegal. Glue sniffing would be extremely difficult to control, says Basil Boyd. It’s not just glue, but petrol or even typist’s aid that is sniffed. Glue sniffing is becoming - a serious problem in Christchurch. Just how widespread the habit has become is very difficult to gauge. Basil Boyd believes it can adequately be. dealt with by Existing laws. . . . At present glue sniffers are being dealt with tinder the Children and Young Persons Act, where a complaint can be brought against a parent or guardian for behaviour which is

not under their control. The child is the subject of the complaint. What else is causing the apparent! “crime wave?” The police force is more - efficient.' A culprit is found for a greater per cent of crimes committed, and the police are better at keeping files. “In the past the country policeman would have taken the offender home to mum and dad with a warning. Today we make a file,” says Senior Constable' Boyd. Statistics cannot always be trusted as a true indication, of young offending. So many different factors influence the data. For example, the degree to which a community is willing to give a first offender a second chance. , • Diane McEvedy is a social worker with - the Anglican City Mission. Some years ago Gisborne was coming down very hard on first offenders, she says. This resulted in high local statistics. At the same time, Porirua was bending over back- '. wards to give first offenders a second chance. The Christchurch Youth Aid Section follows a general rule of thumb, jlf children come to the notice of the police for the first time arid they have had “reasonable dealings” with them, they will get a police warning. About 40 per cent will reoffend — a figure that has not ■ changed much during the past few years. A further statistical hurdle when trying to gauge the true size of the “crime wave” is that not all crime is reported. • A survey carried out in Britain some years ago tried to relate reported crime to the actual amount occurring. For some offences, like the unlawful taking of cars, the reported and actual levels were very close. For others, like assault, there was a considerable gap. Kevin Foley, a Christ-

church probation: officer, says: -It would be a useful survey to do in New Zealand as we don’t know what, the actual level of crime is.” It would let us know how rational our fear of crime is, whether we should fear walking in the city at night, worry about the risk of burglary, or question the wisdom of women jogging. As the victims of assault, and particularly rape, get a better deal, more people. come forward to report offences committed against them. Twenty years ago a woman attacked by her husband would often not have been taken seriously. Today, he can be prosecuted. Girls ‘convert cars, are a part of violent stabbings, and rob old ladies’ Nevertheless, Kevin Foley believes the number of young people' offending is increasing. The growth is caused by a combination of , so many things that it is useless to pick out any one reason. It is a great field for personal opinion, he points out. One explanation holds large cities responsible. It is the, ease with which one expects to get caught which deters offenders, he says. The larger the city is, the less catchable a person feels. Cities breed a feeling of anonymity. He compares it to the small town atmosphere, where everyone ; recognises everyone. High, unemployment is also blamed, as is the emphasis on consumer goods. “There are more goodies around. Years ago everyone had a car and a TV. Today not everyone , can afford what a lot of people have — . and advertising tells them

everyone has them.” The number of women ■ joining the predominantly male world of offending is also growing.; In 1981, less than 20 per cent of peopleappearing- in the Children and Young Persons Court were female. William Runciman expects the proportion to rise. . “An increasing number of. convictions in the country are females. At present the level is not the same, but the trend is to parity. One would expect it if the present trend continues. “Twenty to thirty years ago the offences were restricted to shop-lifting and child abuse. Now there is not that stereotype. Women are more out and about, more liberated.” Nowadays girls will convert cars, be part of violent stabbings, and rob old ladies, he says. However, offending by young females and males does not go on forever. If it did there certainly would be a crime wave. Everyone has a pet theory why it stops. One school of thought says the earlier offenders start and the earlier they are caught and reprimanded, the earlier they stop. “At about 25 they have disappeared off the scene. That age seems to get lower if we deal with them at an earlier stage,” says Warren Pasley. Diane McEvedy cannot say that about all the people she works with. “Many people here are at the bottom of the barrel. As well as being offenders they are fairly deprived. With some of them there’s no coming out of it until they are 30.” The bulk of offending seems to be a result of a “maturing process.” One comment was that people should all be buried until they are aged 20 — so they cannot do any damage. As people become more realistic about the world they live in, or get job satisfaction, they drop out of crime, says Senior Constable Boyd. Men often give it up when their girl friend is expecting a baby, or they get married. Kevin Foley "says: . “It’s awfully. sexist, but.ja good woman...” ■