Queensland youth crime co-responders determined not to give up in face of criticism
Youth worker Matthew Goldsmith and policeman Paul Emr believe they are making a difference. (AM: Stephanie Smail)
Youth worker and police teams working on the streets to reduce crime in Queensland say they are making progress, arguing persistence is the key to breaking the cycle of offending.
The state opposition has criticised programs like the Youth Co-Responder Teams (YCRT), after a report found nearly 90 per cent of young people broke the law again after working with the teams.
However, the report — an independent evaluation of the program by the Nous Group — also showed crimes by serious repeat offenders dropped dramatically after the co-responders got involved, and the number of offences such as breaking and entering and theft had reduced.
Youth worker Matthew Goldsmith from the YCRT's South Brisbane team said he saw evidence every day that the program was working.
"I'm still here and I would only remain here if I knew it was working," Mr Goldsmith said.
Mr Goldsmith says co-responders build a rapport with young people. (AM: Stephanie Smail)
"If someone walks up to you on the street and tells you to change your life, you'd probably tell them to go away.
"[But] if you build a trust and the intentions are clear, the intervention becomes more powerful and it's easier to do."
The ABC joined a patrol with one of the state's 13 Youth Co-Responder Teams, which pair a youth justice worker with a police officer 24 hours a day to engage high-risk young people.
Queensland Police Senior Constable Paul Emr, also part of the South Brisbane YCRT, said he had noticed progress in his day-to-day interactions with young offenders.
"The way that the kids will speak to you, they can see we're trying to help them," he said.
"And if they do the wrong thing, they're more willing to engage with our services but also to be part of the solution to whatever's going on."
Senior Constable Emr and Mr Goldsmith believe the co-responder program is working. (AM: Stephanie Smail)
Serious repeat youth offenders
The report's release last week prompted more criticism of the Queensland government's response to youth crime from the state's Opposition Leader David Crisafulli.
"When 91 per cent of reoffenders reoffend within nine months, that tells you we need to be doing other things along with what we are doing at the moment," he said.
"Clearly, the programs that are there at the moment aren't working."
Announcing the report, Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer said the focus was on reducing serious recidivist crime.
"Around 20 per cent of young people commit 55 per cent of the crime and it is these serious repeat offenders who we are specifically targeting," she said.
A recent Queensland auditor-general's report revealed serious repeat youth offender numbers in the state rose from 278 in 2018-2019 to 457 in 2022-23.
But the Queensland government argued there had been a 14 per cent drop since October 2023.
The YCRTs are part of the state government's attempt to keep bringing that down.
The teams are currently operating 24/7 in 13 police districts, with two more to be added soon, working with children as young as nine for a range of offences, from shoplifting to serious crimes such as breaking and entering.
As well as street patrols to check young people aren't in trouble, they conduct home visits for bail checks and help connect young people with housing or medical support if they need it.
Youth crime crackdown
Activists march towards Queensland parliament in a recent protest against youth crime. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
Youth crime is an ongoing political issue for the Queensland government.
Fly-in police forces such as Taskforce Guardian have been set up to crack down on trouble spots such as Townsville, with hundreds of arrests for thousands of offences across the state in the past year.
Senior Constable Emr said his team's role was different to frontline police work, with a focus on early intervention and prevention where it was possible.
"When you have time to spend with young people and families then you can engage better," he said.
"They say, 'Oh, you're different to other police' but I'm not different, I've just got time to spend with you and listen to what you have to say and hear what you need from us."
Back to school
Between July 2023 and May 2024, the South Brisbane YCRT engaged with more than 6,000 young people, their families and stakeholders, many of them multiple times.
Mr Goldsmith said there was a growing focus on getting young offenders back to school, to stop them reoffending.
"I think the general public would be horrified about some of the environments that these young people are growing up in," he said.
"School can be a safe place for these young people."
Attending school is seen as key to stop young people reoffending. (AM: Stephanie Smail)
Senior Constable Emr, who was a school-based police officer for 13 years before this role, said getting young offenders back to class could have a huge impact.
"Getting back to a little bit of normality for them whether it's because they've been offending and incarcerated or anything like that, it's a cycle we try to break for them," he said.
The team takes young offenders to activities like boxing classes too, sometimes picking them up and dropping them off if it’s needed.
Nathan Vaughan supports the co-responder program. (AM: Stephanie Smail)
Queensland Police Sergeant Nathan Vaughan teaches boxing at a PCYC on Brisbane’s bayside.
"Being a police officer in this environment, I know what these kids are going through, I can recognise it and say, 'Come on, work with me, let's go,'" he said.
Sergeant Vaughn said, after years in frontline policing, he understood the value of the YCRT's work.
"It's a funnel into the community that I don't have access to," he said.
"These guys are on the ground with the young people and can get them here and it's fantastic."
'Old-school policing'
The Liberal National Party's criticism of existing youth crime prevention continues as Queensland's October election edges closer.
Mr Goldsmith argued it was in everyone's interest to continue the YCRT's work.
"We're able to go out to see these young people and go to their homes multiple times in a short period of time," he said.
"We use the analogy of old-school, country policing, checking in to make sure everything's OK and going back.
"The more times a young person sees the same face, the more comfortable they become and you can decipher what it is they actually need."