A note of caution

By Bridget Cook
CRANBOURNE police have recently kicked off an initiative in an attempt to help stamp out anti-social behaviour among youths.
Police have started sending letters to parents or guardians of children they have spoken to during their regular patrols.
They say they are particularly concerned about young people being out late at night or early in the morning.
The letter informs parents that police have spoken to their child and the details, time and location of that conversation.
Since the initiative started three months ago, Cranbourne police have sent out about 30 letters to parents or guardians of youths aged between 10 and 17 years old.
Casey youth resource officer Leading Senior Constable Brett Owen said the initiative had achieved the desired effect because parents were often unaware their children were out and about at a particular time.
“Many have contacted us and thanked us for letting them know,” he said.
“Some parents have told us they thought their child was staying at a friend’s house and some have said they thought they were in bed and that they must have snuck out.
“Parents can then follow with their own consequences… no police action is taken, it is only a notification.”
He said staff at Casey council’s Youth Resources department started the initiative to reduce youth offending and the scheme is now three months into a 12-month trial.
“As this stage, with the positive feedback, we could see it extended and rolled out Casey wide,” he said.
“This is a proactive measure to satisfy ourselves of the welfare of that person, but on other occasions it may be contributing to the prevention of anti-social behaviour,” he said.
“These youths have not committed a crime but police have concerns about young people being out and about late at night and early hours of the morning.”
As part of the new initiative, police are also sending letters to schools in addition to parents when they speak with youths during school hours.
The letter states that the child they spoke to was checked during school hours and may be absent from school without permission.
Leading Sen Const Owen said this had also proved successful as some parents had said they were unaware of the police contact and that their child was out of school.
Leading Sen Const Owen is encouraging parents to contact him with queries about the letter on 5991 0600.