March 13, 2024
Ram raid bill path to children’s prisons
Save the Children says there’s nothing in the Government’s Ram Raid Offending Bill that will prevent youth crime.
The organisation is making a submission to the select committee today.
Advocacy director Jacqui Southey says ram raids are happening at a far lower rate than in 2022, when young people were not at school because of Covid and families were struggling.
She says research shows prevention is better than harsh punishment later.
“We want to prevent harm to children who are involved in these types of offending and we know this is happening because of a break down in social settings whether it’s because they’ve got stuff going on at home that needs to be sorted out or they’re socialising with the wrong groups – some of these are really young children and they ned to be supported to not be committing these offences in the first place rather than basically children’s prisons after the event,” Ms Southey says.
Draconian policies impact Māori communities more harshly.