Youth crime and a perceived sense of impunity among young offenders emerged as the dominant themes of the evening.
Several community members said they felt young people believed they could act without real consequences.
Superintendent Duncan acknowledged the frustration, but urged residents not to lose perspective, highlighting that crime had generally fallen across most areas over the last 20 years.
“We have some very good services on the Northern Beaches and some very good programs,” Duncan said, adding that break-ins and malicious damage had fallen sharply over the past two decades.
The local top cop said there had been a number of high-impact operations, including one targeting retail theft which brought in resources from other areas, and another coming up which can’t yet be discussed.
But he also asked the community to understand that evidence pointed to poor outcomes and long-term criminal behaviour for when it comes to putting young people into juvenile detention, and that for the vast majority, a trip to the police station with their parents and a caution was enough to set most straight. “We don’t want to be locking up 10 year olds,” Michael Regan added.
There was considerable discussion on e-bikes, as well as frustrations over delayed CCTV camera installation in some areas known to have anti-social activity, such as Walter Gors Park in Dee Why.
The Commander acknowledged the challenges, but on the topic of e-bikes reminded the audience that the new transport mode was here to stay and that greater investment in cycling infrastructure to accommodate increased bike use would resolve a lot of the conflict. He also urged residents to contact Dee Why Police Station to report incidents rather than posting on social media.
“We’re saying to kids, you can have an e-bike, but you can’t actually ride it anywhere,”
“We’re saying to kids, you can have an e-bike, but you can’t actually ride it anywhere,” he said, noting complaints from residents about riders on footpaths, roads and in parks alike.
He said solving the issue long term would require investment in dedicated bike lanes, even if that meant difficult trade-offs for motorists and businesses. Asked why there hadn’t been stricter enforcement of laws, the Superintendent Duncan pointed to the risks of chasing a young person on a bike – the risk of death – outweighing the benefits of enforcing a lack of helmet or tail-light. But there had been targeted operations and there would be more, he said.
At the same time as the conference was held, about 900 metres away, two 15 year olds on electric dirt bikes were injured after the rider ran a red light and was hit by a ute. The passenger was flown to Sydney Children’s Hospital in a serious condition.
It’s not as bad as it looks
Youth Command’s Superintendent Phil Hallinan, who lives locally but oversees youth diversionary programs for the entire state, reminded the audience that the area compared favourably to other parts of Sydney.
“I look at across the state, we’ve got 1,009 kids on bail as of today. 15 of them reside in the Northern Beaches,” Hallinan said. “That is a very low percentage of kids committing serious crime.”
Manly Observer asked the senior officers whether there was clear intelligence on whether the key problems it recently highlighted, namely young people had stealing cars from driveways and “swarming” bottle shops for liquor, were of their own accord or part of a broader criminal network.
Are kids stealing for themselves, or for someone else?
Responding to a question on whether youth theft is opportunistic or organised, Crime Manager Detective Chief Inspector Michael Boutouridis said the answer depended on the item involved.
On alcohol, he said groups of young people were often stocking up for gatherings (beach doors), targeting particular high value spirits before retailers moved them behind counters.
Car theft, however, was a different picture. Boutouridis said the more sophisticated, organised car thefts operating in the area were generally not carried out by local kids.
“The good, organised young thieves that come and lurk into our neighbourhood at night are generally our western cousins,” he said, describing loose links to organised crime networks operating through multiple layers that made it difficult for police to trace stolen vehicles back to those directing the thefts.
By contrast, he said, local kids stealing cars were largely doing so for joyrides rather than profit, and were easier for police to locate afterwards.
Social media had made criminality something to brag about, but also made it easier for offenders to be prosecuted under new post and boast laws, he added.
He also noted that electric vehicles were rarely targeted given their tracking capabilities, and that many local thefts were opportunistic, with unlocked cars and keys left inside making them easy targets.
Residents raised concerns about nitrous oxide canister misuse in local parks, particular after a party at James Meehan Reserve led to serious violence earlier this year. Duncan said new limits on supplying the canisters were expected soon.
“I do know that the government has changed the legislation and is bringing some offences, I believe, for supplying those [canisters],” he said.
Asked what the major concerns were from the Command’s perspective, Superintendent Duncan flagged online scams and child exploitation as significant, under-reported threats.
“We see many times people in their 60s, 70s and 80s losing more than a million dollars each time,” he said, describing cyber crime as “largely… vastly underreported.”
As to whether the streets were safe on the Northern Beaches, the Commander offered this sobering remark on local statistics:
“We review our crime on a daily basis. All right, so we look at the statistics, we look at who’s being exposed and what, and what the biggest risks are…. the people you have to be most afraid of [those statistically most likely to hurt you]: if you’re a woman, it’s your partner. If it’s a kid, it’s your parents. If it’s a young man, it’s probably yourself. All those people live in your house.”
“The people you have to be most afraid of [statistically most likely to hurt you], if you’re a woman, it’s your partner. If it’s a kid, it’s your parents. If it’s a young man, it’s probably yourself. All those people live in your house.”
Officers repeatedly urged residents to report incidents directly rather than via social media. If the matter doesn’t involve violence or some other emergency requiring triple zero, the community is urged to contact Dee Why Police Station directly on 9971 3399.
A number of important conversations regarding young people’s sense of safety and promising diversionary programs were discussed at the forum, which Manly Observer will follow up in greater depth.
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