Age of concern about life on the streets

It’s long past sunset on a Friday night in South Hedland and way beyond the bedtime for most children.

The footpaths are dark and the street lights flicker as theNorth West Telegraph joins South Hedland police officers and a Department of Child Protection worker for a ride-along that will reveal a scenario nothing short of shocking.

Now in its fourth week, Operation Doubleshot has made a focused effort to remove children, some as young as five, from the streets and return them to the care of parents, guardians, and responsible adults who, it becomes increasingly clear, are often missing in action.

It's a seemingly thankless task to protect vulnerable, at-risk children from a life of crime.

Less than 10 minutes after leaving the station, the level of neglect, alcohol abuse, drug abuse and lost innocence on our town’s streets begins to reveal itself.

In the bushes outside Lotteries House, the team comes across a group of four, all younger than 14, each encountered by Youth Crime Intervention Officer Senior Constable Shaun Coles on an almost daily basis.Sen. Const. Coles says alcohol is a major factor in their presence on the street, but drug abuse doesn't discriminate based on age.

“One of these kids, she pays for a drug habit at 13 years of age, her mum is a hopeless drug addict and she lives in the care of her grandmother, who has also got her older sister, younger sister and brother to care for,” he says.

“This kid hasn't had a chance to be a child, she's been ‘parentalised’, looking after younger siblings, with the added factors of drugs, alcohol and possible interference from adult males.

“She is already on our system on bail after being charged earlier in the week with two aggravated burglaries.”

This young girl, barely a teen, is arrested and taken by police to the station in relation to further burglaries.But Sen. Const. Coles said police were “extremely reluctant to hold a child in custody overnight” because “it's not good and doesn't serve any purpose”.

As the night wears on, we discover this girl's story is one repeated over and over.

Her story is just the tip of the iceberg on this particular night and is followed by more heart-wrenching stories, like that of a boy who hadn't been fed for more than 24 hours.

It is 12.20am and on a dark street near the Caltex service station, among a group of eight, is a five-year-old child.

For those with children safely tucked up in bed at home, it is likely an unthinkable scene, but it is one police encounter regularly.

The reality is this will not be the last time this child, barely in school, interacts with police.

As Sergeant Jayd Morawski explains, most of the 33 children picked up during the five-hour patrol already have lengthy criminal records.

“They are definitely at-risk kids,” he says. “They’re at risk of committing offences and, due to their tender years, at risk of being victims of offences."

Sgt Morawski is clear the blame for their presence on the streets does not rest solely on their own young shoulders.

“It's not because they are bad kids, but because they have parents who have forgotten how to parent,” he says.“They walk around in groups all night… in a way, they are like their own support network because they’re not getting that support at home.”

Operation Doubleshot, Sgt Morawski says, “is not policing in the normal sense” but aims at “preventing crime and providing care and attention for these kids”.

“With only 33 kids picked up… this isn’t a normal Friday night for us. We would normally have a 100 names by the end of the night,” he says.

Although numbers may be down, having just one child on the street is a scenario that scares Sen. Const. Coles.

Like Sgt Morawski, he knows it is these children, alone on the streets, who are vulnerable to being victims of more serious crime.

“Tonight we arrested a 23-year-old male at a bus shelter holding a bag with a large knife… he was also in possession of a few grams of suspected crystal meth,” he says.

“It makes me nervous for these kids, knowing they’re out there with these blokes running around on gear with knives."

As each of the children is delivered to an address police feel is safe, the realisation dawns that “home” isn't always the safest or best option.

At one residence, a frustrated woman we learn is “Nanna” is struggling to oversee the care of 13 children.

“She (Nanna) is genuinely trying hard with them but so much has been dumped on her shoulders because of dysfunctional parents,” Sgt Morawski says.

“The thing is though, the reason the parents are dysfunctional is because they were raised by her in the first place. We’re building generations like this.”

Three hours after police first visit her address, they receive a desperate plea from the overwhelmed nanna. She needs them to return some of her charges to other family members.

Sgt Morawski says that in this house, they believe, children as young as nine are being exposed to drugs by older siblings.

“After we dropped the kids off, one of the older girls came back with cash which we believe was stolen from her nanna, and other the kids have followed her with the cash to find cannabis,” he said.

“The scariest thing is someone in our community is selling cannabis to a 13-year-old girl and 10-year-old boys."

Pilbara DCP team leader Ben Gasior says authorities were working hard to build rapport with at-risk kids and their families and taking them from their homes was a last resort.

“There’s always a reason kids are out this late at night. It’s often their own way of keeping themselves safe… by taking themselves away from home,” he says.

“Our main job is child safety. It’s all about making sure they are at a safe place at home."

Mr Gasior says there are a number of initiatives such as Parent Support and Stronger Families that work with juvenile offenders and families to improve outcomes.

But the presence of children on the streets at night is an issue not for police or Department of Child Protection to tackle alone.

It is an issue the whole community bears responsibility for, and it’s an ongoing issue Senior Sergeant Dean Snashall believes should outrage every community member.

Sen. Sgt Snashall, officer-in-charge of South Hedland police, says he thinks it is “horrific” officers are forced to remove more than 100 children off the streets of South Hedland between 10pm and 5am in the course of five nights, between March 8 and March 12.

“This issue runs very deep and over the coming months I intend on working closely with those agencies that can have an impact on reducing this horrific statistic,” he says.

“This is not a police issue. This is a social and community issue."

Operation timeline:

9pm Sgt Morawski briefs the Operation Double Shot team.

9.11pm Officers stop four juveniles outside Lotteries House who have fingerprints and DNA in the system. One 13-year-old is arrested, the other three are driven back to Nanna’s house in South Hedland.

9.45pm Police move on a group of adults loitering drunk on Forrest Circle, South Hedland.

10.14pm Sen. Const. Coles and Sgt Morawski arrest John William Dodd 23, at a bus shelter on Koombana Avenue, with possession of a controlled weapon with intent to cause fear, and possession of a prohibited drug.

10.30pm The team returns to the station to de-brief.

11pm Officers stop three kids, aged 13, on the corner of Parker and Kennedy streets who are already known to police. They are dropped back to Nanna’s home in South Hedland.

11.30pm Police stop to talk to a drunk and disorderly man on Jabiru Loop visiting from Bidyadanga community. Just a few hundred metres away a juvenile is wandering the street.

11.35pm Our police car drives past a group of half dozen adults passed out on a driveway of a Department of Housing house with liquor restrictions on it. They call for backup to investigate.

11.48pm Police stop to talk to a group of people at South Hedland Square shops who are sleeping on the street waiting for a bus back to a community near Broome.

12.01am Police return to first house where three juveniles were returned to their nanna. Nanna can’t cope and asks for them to be taken back to family members.

12.20am Officers stop eight kids aged from 5 to 15 who are coming from Caltex. A male barely 18 years old has been designated as their “responsible adult” to walk them home.

12.30am Police drive to Port Hedland Shopping Centre to patrol the car park.

1.04am Officers pick up a 13-year-old walking alone off Murdoch Drive and return him to his home.

1.30am Return to station for final de-brief. Police discuss all 33 interactions for the night, with 28 different juveniles picked up that night.