Police and young people Aaron Isaac
Police and Young People Legislation introduced such as the (powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002, was introduced, to increase police powers in relation to public order. As significant users of public spaces, Young people are more likely to be subject to police intervention through increased police powers and public order offences.
Relationship between young people and police. The difficult relationship between young people and police has been well documented, over the years. Negative contact over the use of police powers can lead to police charging young people with further offences. Such as the three offences known colloquially as “the trifecta” i. Resist arrest ii. Assault police iii. Offensive language
Searches Police may stop and search a person if they suspect on reasonable grounds that a person is carrying: Prohibited drugs. Stolen goods Something about to be used to commit an offence or a knife or any other dangerous implement. The NSW Ombudsman’s Policing Public Safety report, published in 1999, examined the use of police powers to search for knives and dangerous implements, where the report found that 42 per cent of people searched for knives or weapons were juveniles. The majority of these searches were “unproductive” compared to searches of adults. This may be a result of police over targeting juveniles, where it is a fact of live where adults are more likely to pick on children.
Move-On Directions A police officer may give a direction to a person in a public place to prevent; The obstruction of other people or traffic. Harassment or intimidation of other people. The selling or buying of illegal drugs. The direction must be reasonable in the circumstances to reduce or eliminate problem behavior. The NSW Ombudsman’s Policing Public Safety report published in 1999, examined the use of directions. Among the findings were that 48 per cent of all directions were issued to people under 18, with the peak age being per cent of directions were issued for reasons outside the scope of relevant legislation; for example because people were begging in a high crime area or simply had no reason to be there. The report also found that there was a very high use of move-on powers against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who made up 22 per cent of people given move-on directions, even though they only represented 1.9 per cent of the population in NSW.
Special Protection for young people in police custody The Regulation provide special protection for certain “vulnerable people” specifically: Young people under 18 People with intellectual or physical disabilities Aboriginal people and Torres strait islander; and People of non English speaking backgrounds Vulnerable people are allowed to have a support person present during any investigation procedure. Young people under 18 cannot waive this right and must have a support person present during investigations.
Special protection for young people during police questioning A person suspected of committing an offence has the right to silence. If a child chooses to participate in a police interview, whatever they say cannot be used against them in a court unless: There is an independent adult present during the interview. The courts believes there was proper and sufficient reason for the absence of an independent adult, and that it is appropriate for the evidence to be used against the child in court.
Fines and young people For many young people, fines are a gateway into the CJS police officers and other officials, have the power to issue infringement notices. Young people commonly receive fines for offences such as traveling on a train without a ticket, the fines can range from as little as $20 to several hundred $ (in the case of traffic offences) Figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and research show that 541,689 infringement notices were issued in 2009 which is equivalent of one fine for every 13 people in NSW
This is a disadvantage for juveniles as young offenders may come from impoverished backgrounds.