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| New Zealand government plans army bootcamps for worst young offenders | New Zealand government plans army bootcamps for worst young offenders |
| (6 months later) | |
| With six weeks to go before the general election, the ruling National party floats idea for military-style discipline | |
| Eleanor Ainge Roy | |
| Mon 14 Aug 2017 05.47 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 14 Aug 2017 05.55 BST | |
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| The New Zealand government has announced a crackdown on the country’s worst juvenile offenders with around 150 children to be sent on a year-long military bootcamp aimed at tackling violent and recurrent offenders. | The New Zealand government has announced a crackdown on the country’s worst juvenile offenders with around 150 children to be sent on a year-long military bootcamp aimed at tackling violent and recurrent offenders. |
| With six weeks to go before the general election, the National party says if re-elected it will tackle the country’s most serious young offenders by sending them to train alongside soldiers at a bootcamp run by the army. It will also hold “negligent parents to account” by issuing spot-fines of NZ$200 if their children aged 14 and under are found wandering the streets unsupervised between the hours of 12-5am. | With six weeks to go before the general election, the National party says if re-elected it will tackle the country’s most serious young offenders by sending them to train alongside soldiers at a bootcamp run by the army. It will also hold “negligent parents to account” by issuing spot-fines of NZ$200 if their children aged 14 and under are found wandering the streets unsupervised between the hours of 12-5am. |
| “There remains a small group of around 150 young people who continue to commit large numbers of serious offences,” National party justice spokesperson Amy Adams said in a statement. | “There remains a small group of around 150 young people who continue to commit large numbers of serious offences,” National party justice spokesperson Amy Adams said in a statement. |
| “These are young people who have been in and out of youth court but have shown no willingness or ability to change their behaviour. We are not prepared to just sit back and allow their victims to keep racking up until they reach adulthood.” | “These are young people who have been in and out of youth court but have shown no willingness or ability to change their behaviour. We are not prepared to just sit back and allow their victims to keep racking up until they reach adulthood.” |
| The NZ$60m package to be rolled out over four years would see young criminals aged betwen 12-17 dispatched to the Waiouru army training camp in the central north island for a year’s military training. | The NZ$60m package to be rolled out over four years would see young criminals aged betwen 12-17 dispatched to the Waiouru army training camp in the central north island for a year’s military training. |
| Any children who failed to stick out the year’s camp would serve a “commensurate adult sentence of imprisonment instead”, Adams said. | Any children who failed to stick out the year’s camp would serve a “commensurate adult sentence of imprisonment instead”, Adams said. |
| The surprise announcement has been met with a mixed response, with some saying the policy is regressive, out-dated and no more than an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. | The surprise announcement has been met with a mixed response, with some saying the policy is regressive, out-dated and no more than an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. |
| “A punitive plan to appeal to our punitive culture,” wrote novelist Elizabeth Knox on social media. | “A punitive plan to appeal to our punitive culture,” wrote novelist Elizabeth Knox on social media. |
| “Yeah. This’ll probably fly.” | “Yeah. This’ll probably fly.” |
| A punitive plan to appeal to our punitive culture. Yeah. This'll probably fly. Nats to put bad kids in bootcamp https://t.co/MbdM2Okjoo | A punitive plan to appeal to our punitive culture. Yeah. This'll probably fly. Nats to put bad kids in bootcamp https://t.co/MbdM2Okjoo |
| However supporters applauded the governemnt’s hardline approach, saying the rigours and discipline of military life could whip out-of-control young people into line, with many comparing the proposed bootcamp to Outward Bound. | However supporters applauded the governemnt’s hardline approach, saying the rigours and discipline of military life could whip out-of-control young people into line, with many comparing the proposed bootcamp to Outward Bound. |
| “It would give them everything they haven’t had in the past. Structure. Boundaries. Discipline. A sense of purpose. Fitness. Good food. Direction. And most of all, daily accountability,” wrote Rachel Smalley in an opinion piece for Newstalk ZB. | “It would give them everything they haven’t had in the past. Structure. Boundaries. Discipline. A sense of purpose. Fitness. Good food. Direction. And most of all, daily accountability,” wrote Rachel Smalley in an opinion piece for Newstalk ZB. |
| “You’ve got to get up. You’ve got to make your bed. You’ve got to get your hair cut. Shine your boots. You’re part of a team. You’ve got a job to do. Cooking, cleaning, you name it. Suddenly you’ve got a sense of purpose.” | “You’ve got to get up. You’ve got to make your bed. You’ve got to get your hair cut. Shine your boots. You’re part of a team. You’ve got a job to do. Cooking, cleaning, you name it. Suddenly you’ve got a sense of purpose.” |
| The opposition Labour party said the government should be tackling the root causes of poverty and dysfunction among disaffected youth instead of pouring money into bootcamp “gimmicks” that would do little more than turn young criminals into “fit young criminals”. | The opposition Labour party said the government should be tackling the root causes of poverty and dysfunction among disaffected youth instead of pouring money into bootcamp “gimmicks” that would do little more than turn young criminals into “fit young criminals”. |
| “Troubled young people need to know they’ve got a real chance in life, not thrown into pointless boot camps,” said Andrew Little, the Labour party’s justice spokesperson. | “Troubled young people need to know they’ve got a real chance in life, not thrown into pointless boot camps,” said Andrew Little, the Labour party’s justice spokesperson. |
| “Boot camps and infringement notices for parents are simply draconian and counterproductive. They won’t make a difference. They are punishing parents when what we need are new ways of intervening early on with families who have challenging situations.” | “Boot camps and infringement notices for parents are simply draconian and counterproductive. They won’t make a difference. They are punishing parents when what we need are new ways of intervening early on with families who have challenging situations.” |
| Canterbury University criminologist Jarrod Gilbert told RNZ there was no evidence that bootcamps worked to tackle young offenders, and they could in fact make them worse. | Canterbury University criminologist Jarrod Gilbert told RNZ there was no evidence that bootcamps worked to tackle young offenders, and they could in fact make them worse. |
| “Overwhelmingly the evidence suggests it won’t work. I don’t think you’d find a bona fide sociologist, criminologist, researcher in the country who will say there is evidence that these types of initiatives are successful. Because the evidence does just not point to that.” | “Overwhelmingly the evidence suggests it won’t work. I don’t think you’d find a bona fide sociologist, criminologist, researcher in the country who will say there is evidence that these types of initiatives are successful. Because the evidence does just not point to that.” |
| “In fact, the evidence shows that it creates more problems and recidivism actually increases. Now we don’t exactly know why that occurs - the shorthand is that we create faster, fitter criminals - but in truth we don’t know. But we do know that they don’t work.” | “In fact, the evidence shows that it creates more problems and recidivism actually increases. Now we don’t exactly know why that occurs - the shorthand is that we create faster, fitter criminals - but in truth we don’t know. But we do know that they don’t work.” |
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