Reining in ringleaders cuts youth car crime

The youth crime “epidemic” in Christchurch may have passed its peak, with the number of ramraids and cars being stolen for joy rides noticeably down in recent months.

Daylight was just creeping onto the horizon when police rolled out road spikes in an attempt to stop an overloaded stolen car full of teenagers on Wednesday morning. The group of six kids had been screaming around Hoon Hay, Halswell and Aidenfield, filming flashing police lights in the wing mirror as they fled.

“Can’t stop, won’t stop” read the caption on the video posted on Instagram by one of the passengers.

Except, these kids are being stopped. Christchurch appears to have passed peak youth crime, with the number of ramraids and cars being stolen for joy rides noticeably down in recent months.

Police say this is because they have been able to take a number of key youth offenders off the streets, in part through a new multi-agency Fast Track programme targeting recidivist 10-13 year old offenders. It was launched in Christchurch in July, aiming to re-engage children with education and their communities, to help protect them from falling into crime.

A police intelligence report from November 2022 showed the top 10 teenagers who were responsible for almost half (44%) of youth offending across the city. Five of them had been linked to ram raids.

Christchurch’s top cop, Superintendent Lane Todd, said huge progress has been made since then.

“Most of those kids wouldn't be on that list today, either because they're in good solid programmes, they’re in OT [Oranga Tamariki] custody or we've be able to turn them around,” he said.

After failing to stop for police on Halswell Rd at 4.50am on Wednesday, the stolen hatchback was pursued then spiked, eventually coming to a stop on Hoon Hay Rd.

The kids fled. After a short foot chase, the passengers were arrested on Lyttelton St.

“Stay safe in there my brother (sic)” reads one Instagram comment alongside a picture of a grinning teen, handcuffed on the footpath next to a police car.

The driver of the vehicle took another route, through people’s backyards. A police dog tracked them down a short time later.

The driver has since appeared in Youth Court and understands several of the passengers will be referred to the Fast Track programme.

While more than 500 cars are still being stolen every month in Christchurch, that number has come down significantly from the all time high of 781 in May.

Ramraids also peaked that month, with 20 businesses targeted, but in October there were just three.

At the height of the “epidemic”, as one business owner called it, The Press was regularly publishing stories about stores that had been targeted, sometimes multiple times, and residents who felt fearful, overwhelmed, and ignored.

Social media is widely considered to be one of the main drivers of car-related offending among young people, who are motivated by the clicks, likes and perceived acceptance that comes with posting their brazen antics online.

In a corner of the internet, videos of police chases, fistfuls of car ignitions and friends lying face down on the ground after being arrested were and are still commonplace.

The previous Government first rolled out the Fast Track programme in Auckland in December 2022, before expanding it to Canterbury this year.

Under the law, children younger than 14 can’t be charged unless their offending is very serious. Illegal use of a motor vehicle – the charge for stealing a car for a joyride and then dumping it – doesn’t reach that threshold.

As a result, problem children were regularly being returned home by police in the early hours of the morning, only to be caught re-offending a couple of days later.

Now, when a child comes to the attention of the police, an inter-agency group will meet within 24 hours, visit the family and make a plan to support the child and their whānau.

Oranga Tamariki South Island regional youth justice manager Rachel Hohaia said the fast turnaround time was the single thing that was getting the most traction.

“A lot of the parents are sitting at home going ... ‘I've got no idea what to do next. How am I going to get some help?’ So [it’s] being able to be right there straight afterwards and say, ‘OK, what's going on here?”

Kaupapa Māori health, wellbeing and social service provider, Purapura Whetu, is one of the NGOs involved in the Fast Track Programme.

Manager Dean Te Hae said these children often came from homes where poverty, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse are common.

“They get to the point where they lose all hope in life,” he said.

Te Hae said giving the kids consistency, care, and eventually getting them re-engaged in education was crucial.

The pair agreed, that one of the key things helping to bring youth offending down is getting some of the worst youth offenders off the street.

Christchurch Metro Commander Lane Todd said there was “definitely less than a handful” of ringleaders still offending.

“When you've got kids as young as 12 or 13 committing some pretty high end crime, goodness knows what they're going to look like when they're 20,” says Todd. “So, if we can turn these kids around when they’re young, that's got to be positive, right?”