Urgent action promised on child crime

The Government is promising more urgent action when children aged under 14 are caught breaking the law.

Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis admits the current system isn’t working fast enough. He says very young offenders are being released then reoffending before their original crime has been processed.

It had been taking ‘‘weeks’’ for the justice, social work and education systems to come up with a plan when children under 14 have been arrested, he said.

‘‘While the youth justice system can act as a circuit-breaker for young people aged 14 to 17, there is a small number of children aged 10 to 13 who continue to reoffend at a high rate,’’ he said. As child criminals under 14 are released back into the community, with little support on the outside, they commit more crimes, Davis said.

Yesterday, the Government promised a faster response to child crime. Davis said he expected a cross-agency plan for each child offender to be reached within 48 hours of police picking them up.

Police Minister Chris Hipkins said this policy targeted 80 children who showed ‘‘high recidivism’’.