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Young Criminals will be Held Accountable by YETE
Young Criminals will be Held Accountable by YETE - SST
4th April 2017
“If we are serious about reducing the prison population then it is essential that the youth offenders of today do not become the adult criminals of tomorrow”
It’s all very well to decry the prison population but with youth crime on the rise it seems unlikely it will reduce anytime soon. BUT a Youth Advocate says there may well be a light on the horizon.
Jess McVicar [Youth Advocate for Sensible Sentencing Trust – SST] believes that New Zealand Firsts proposal to introduce demerit points to ensure young offenders are held accountable for any wayward behaviour has a lot of potential.
Last week New Zealand First Announced their bill for Youth Justice to have a demerit points system to be used in a bid to stop the continuing rise in youth crime.
Jess says, “This is a brilliant idea and we are 100% behind New Zealand First proposal. Finally someone is talking some sense in Youth Justice, this is a system that will hold youth accountable for their actions, show them there are consequences and at the same time give them an opportunity to stay out of the adult prisons and adult courts."
“This proposal beats anything coming from youth lobby group Just Speak who want to increase the age of Youth Justice to 21, and recently entered a submission to have ALL youth offenders go through the youth justice system, no matter how serious the crime.”
“The New Zealand public are sick of out of control youth committing heinous crimes and getting a smack on the hand.”
“New Zealanders are crying out for tougher punishments for youth offending, they want the offenders held accountable, this demerit system will do just that, it will send the offenders who keep committing crime to a military style sentence, where they will learn skills, respect and fitness. It will also get first time offenders to rethink their path.”
“If we are serious about reducing the prison population then it is essential that the youth offenders of today do not become the adult criminals of tomorrow”. ENDS
http://mymedia.co.nz/2017/03/31/new-demerit-points-system-will-seriously-combat-youth-crime/
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