The perception of youth crime in Shepparton paints a starkly darker picture to the reality, says criminal lawyer of 18 years Luke Slater.
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Despite recent serious violent crimes involving youth in Greater Shepparton, crime across Victoria has decreased by six per cent, according to the latest data from the Crime Statistics Agency.
Mr Slater said the figure equated to more than 1000 fewer youth offenders entering the youth justice system and that the drop had been large enough for him to personally notice from his time in courts over the past 12 months.
He finds it hard to hear responsible adults criticising youth when he believes today’s youth are better behaved than his peers were in their youth.
“I know how difficult it is to be a kid; I know how difficult it is to be a parent,” he said.
“I feel like I want to stick up for the youth of today because I feel like they’re a little bit vulnerable and we’re generalising, saying they’re terrible and they’re committing all these crimes.
“It’s just not true. I think human behaviour, in my opinion, including the behaviour of our young people, is far more respectful and better than what it was 20, 30, 40 years ago.”
While statistics show there are fewer youth crimes being committed, public commentary suggests it is perceived the nature of the crimes has worsened.
“My view is that children committing those types of serious crimes are usually very, very damaged children,” he said.
He does not believe tougher sentencing is the answer.
“The thought of 12-, 13-year-olds getting locked up and dragged into the criminal justice system to me — knowing I’ve got a good picture of all of the stuff that goes on — is crazy, because they will become more damaged and they’ll almost certainly become career criminals the more we drag kids in at an early age,” Mr Slater said.
He understands many people in the public want to see accountability and punishment, but he believes focusing on blame is counterproductive.
“My opinion is the court and the police will teach a kid nothing,” Mr Slater said.
“That’s not really how constructive learning occurs.
“It’s by the gap between those who have everything and those who have nothing being bridged by voluntary engagement.”
The law-practising father-of-four practises what he preaches, regularly spending social time with youth who are potentially heading down the wrong track, with plans for future further involvement through a running club he’s looking to establish.
“My unrealistic dream is that people like you and I would have to spend a mandatory three or four hours a week with someone who’s at the bottom of the pecking order,” Mr Slater said.
“I know that would never happen, but I just think if something like that occurred, that would make such big changes.”
He said most of the kids interacting with the criminal justice system lacked empathy for victims of their crimes because they had never learnt it.
“Doing burglaries, for you and me, it’s really serious to go into someone’s home and steal stuff,” he said.
“They just don’t relate to how you feel because they’ve been offended against their whole life themselves.
“They’re the kids who people want to be punished and held accountable, but they just don’t have the skills or the insight.”
Mr Slater said a highlight of his time working in youth crime, which he believes would also be of value to adult offenders and their victims, was when a court ordered a group conference after youths committed crimes against people, such as a burglary, theft or assault.
The offender and victim meet in a setting where there’s a mediator, the charging police officers, the offender’s lawyer and family, plus friends and family of the victim.
“They have been some of the best experiences of my life as a lawyer where the kid gets to give their, sort of, life story, so the victim learns a bit about them and then the kid gets to hear directly from the person about how it’s impacted them,” Mr Slater said.
“They’re so powerful.”
An outcome plan is decided on during the conference, where the child is able to negotiate an agreement, such as going to school every day for the next month.
“I had one case where a kid stole a really good bicycle from a bike rider and they ended up in a group conference,” Mr Slater said.
“In this one, they agreed to go on a bike ride together, and that was incredible.”
Mr Slater doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but he said he knew locking kids up wasn’t one of them.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m saying don’t worry about youth crime, but we are really safe,” he said.
“Generally speaking, we as Australians are really safe and we ought to be aware of what is going on in the world and know that there isn’t a youth crime crisis here.”