The residents of Kaleen and Giralang have been experiencing increasing rates of crime including by youth offenders. In particular:
• The residents of Kaleen and Giralang have been experiencing increasing rates of assaults, harassment, drug trafficking, robbery, break and entering;
• Many parents are worried about their children’s safety in Kaleen and Giralang;
• Residents regularly report incidents to the police but the police are not adequately resourced to protect the community which has left many residents living in fear and they are not confident that they will receive the protection they need when they need it; and
• Many repeat offenders are known to residents and ACT Policing, but the action being taken is not acting as a deterrent to offenders.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to call on the ACT Government to:
• Ensure Police are adequately resourced;
• Ensure the DPP is adequately resourced so Police are confident in referring cases to them;
• Pursue law reform and work towards identifying and implementing novel ways to intervene with youth offenders which promote the safety and well-being of the whole community;
• Install cameras in a number of key locations where youth crime is known to occur; and
• Ensure that all youth offenders and their families are required to be assessed by ACT Child and Youth Protection Services including when provided with a caution.