Casey’s new police Youth Resource Officers, senior constables Dave Smith, Chris Atherton and Brett Owen, are looking forward to improving the relationship between police and young people.By Alison Noonan
CASEY police have begun a new campaign targeting the city’s young people – but this crusade is a positive one.
Youth Resource Officers are now stationed at Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Endeavour Hills police stations in a bid to improve relationships between members and youth.
The YROs replace the Schools Resource Officers who worked with students as part of the Police in Schools Program.
The three YROs will work with operational police, local governments, youth agencies and schools to develop strategies and systems to improve services for young people and identify youth-related policing issues.
With almost 50 per cent of crimes in the state committed by people under the age of 25, YRO project manager Inspector Bill Mathers said the YROs would be a valuable resource to the police force.
“The Youth Resource Officers will examine issues such as crime and young people as offenders or victims, road safety and mental health.
“They will compile youth profiles of the local area, including age, gender, ethnicity and levels of disadvantage, as well as statistical data such as offending, family violence and recidivist rates,” he said.
Cranbourne YRO Senior Constable Brett Owen said he was looking forward to the challenges of an area with such a high youth population.
“Cranbourne, Hampton Park, Pearcedale and other surrounding areas all have large and diverse youth populations, who come with their own set of issues and opportunities.
“I am keen to examine how the youth population spend their time and plan to contribute initiatives from a policing perspective that help educate the community as a whole on the role that young people play in society,” he said.
Senior Constable Dave Smith, based at Narre Warren, has already begun his youth campaign through the manning of a police information booth at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre during the school holiday break.
“We are there to provide general policing information and also have a range of pamphlets on offer, including PartySafe packs, which we strongly encourage youths and adults alike to fill out and submit as part of the party planning process.
“We also encourage kids to come over and have a chat at the police information stand where an officer can answer questions on anything from day to day policing to recruiting,” he said.
Endeavour Hills YRO Senior Constable Chris Atherton said she was excited at the prospect of developing the relatively new policing area of Endeavour Hills as a positive youth environment.
“The new role differs from the SRO role in that we will be a lot more involved in partnerships with council and local youth agencies and will participate in local youth events.
“By collating youth data relating to the area including offender and victim ratios, crime and traffic statistics and other influencing factors we will be better positioned to serve the community in relation to youth issues,” she said.
For more information contact your local police Youth Resource Officer or the Youth Affairs Office on 9247 6195.
