May 09, 2024
Community solutions failing in youth violence wave
Auckland councillor and former police officer Alf Filipaina says youth crime seems to be up across the city.
While the number of ram raids is falling, there have been some serious street assaults involving up to 20 teen attackers.
Mr Filipaina says some young people seem to be increasingly desensitized to violence – and attempting to hold parents to account or seek community solutions isn’t working.
“You know, I’m getting a wee bit lost as to how the heck we can end up getting our rangatahi to sort of do other things that wouldn’t end up ending in violence, because it’s just too much.. It’s too much,” he says.
Councillor Filapaina sees poverty, changing family values, and parents losing control of their teenaged children, and the influence of sensationalised and violent social media content as being factors in the violence.