The president of the New Zealand Police Association says their hands are tired when it comes to child offending.
A cyclist was knocked off their bike on Centaurus Rd in Cashmere, Christchurch on Tuesday by a stolen car driven by a child.
On Monday, a woman was knocked off her bike on Daniels Road, Redwood by a child driver.
Police are not commenting on whether the child or children have been caught.
However, the mother of a 10-year-old boy responsible for stealing cars, robberies, ram raids, across the city spoke exclusively to Chris Lynch Media saying “unfortunately, because my son is underage, he can not be charged and there’s no punishment.
“I have been working alongside Oranga Tamariki and the police trying to come up with things and ways to try and stop my 10-year-old from doing this and all of us have no solution.”
The mother said she feared it was only a matter of time before something serious happened to her son and other members of the public.
New Zealand Police Association President Chris Carhill said there were limited powers for police to detain youths in custody.
Police Association President Chris Cahill
“Ultimately this is the decision of the Youth Court.
However, with limited beds in secure youth facilities, there are very limited options for the courts.”
Carhill said dealing with a 10-year-old is problematic for police as the child can only be prosecuted for very serious offences.
“This child would appear to fall more under the Care and Protection legislation than prosecution.
As we know there is pushback about removing children from their families so it is difficult for police to be able intervene if the family cannot take responsibility for the child.
The responsibility sits more with Oranga Tamariki than Police.”
Police recently released numbers showing several hundred youths had been prosecuted for offending linked to the spate of ram raids around the country.
“The reality is police can’t just lock all these offenders away so preventing them from reoffending involves longer-term interventions.
However, there are some prolific recidivist offenders who should be detained in secure youth facilities.”
