Youth Crime
Get smart on crime means building youth strategies that give young people a future . There are crime issues and youth crime issues in our suburbs. Economic hardships are a part of it along a raft of social issues, many of which have been compounding for years, generations in fact.
These are complex issues which need serious long-term attention to strategies designed to build solutions that work in the NT context.
We have major problems in this youth/crime space because the get tough on crime approach used by both the major parties does not work. Evidence shows it makes things worse, which is exactly the scenario we are seeing play out in the NT.
Further the current model is a compounding problem as the strategies being used involve the very expensive solutions of prisons and locking people up which further stresses the NT budget and takes money away from services that can deliver solutions.
There are solutions to these issues based around building self-respect and creating a sense of belonging to society, and through that sense of belonging, creating an attachment to, and respect for, our community.
Too many young people feel alienated from our community, and we need the opposite to be the case. We need to create conditions and experiences to assist Young people develop respect for the community. They are not going to develop positive attitudes about the community when they are being abused, ignored and treated with disrespect as our politicians and many on social media.
Police cannot solve these problems alone, they are not trained to deal with youth issues and worse are only involved too late in the process, after offences and to find perpetrators. We need to resource solutions that prevent crime.
Research has consistently shown that increasing educational attainment can lead to significant reductions in crime. Research suggests that the mere act of being in education and/or training can reduce the likelihood of engaging in criminal behaviour. (Econometrics Laboratory) (CEPR).
Australian statistics indicate that education and employment programs significantly reduce youth crime rates. For example, the Victorian Government's Youth Crime Prevention Program, which has involved over 3000 young people in pro-social activities and intensive case management, achieved a 29% reduction in youth offending and a 24% reduction in the severity of crimes committed.