Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders says he will continue to advocate for diversionary programs to help keep youth in Wellington on the straight and narrow.
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Following Thursday's protest outside the Wellington Police Station, Mr Saunders said he wanted to see more initiatives that would stop young people from offending.
According to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, juvenile crimes in the Dubbo Local Government Area, which includes Wellington shows an increase in the year to March 2021.
Statistics show there were 28 recorded incidents of juveniles breaking into a dwelling compared to 18 the the year before.
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There were also 30 incidents of juveniles breaking into a a non-dwelling, compared to just 15 in 2020.
According to BOCSAR juvenile theft of a motor vehicle had 30 recorded incidents compared to 10 the year prior, and steal from a motor vehicle remained stable with 16 recorded incidents.
There were 61 incidents of malicious property damage, compared to just 45 the year before.
Mr Saunders said it was important more programs were in place to help divert youth crime.
In particular he credited project Walwaay - a community project run by the Orana Mid-Western police district, developed to ensure Aboriginal youth, identified as being at risk of entering the criminal justice system, get the full support they need to stay on the right side of the law.
The project is brainchild of former district commander Superintendent Peter McKenna and consists of three police officers and an Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer who work in conjunction with the RISEUP programs at PCYC.
The program's success has seen almost 250 children attend PCYC on a Friday night, where they're bussed to and from the venue, given a barbecue dinner, can play video games, basketball, pool or just meet up to catch up with one another.
Police officers engage with participants three times a week through this program to play sport and carry out cultural activities.
"My great hope is we can roll Walwaay out not just in my region but across the state," Mr Saunders said.
While Wellington wasn't as big as Dubbo, Mr Saunders said that didn't mean similar programs couldn't be implemented.
"PCYC has a full time manager at Wellington again now and she is fantastic, she's working really closely with a lot of the other community providers," he said.
"It's my way of thinking particularly for younger people, it's about those diversionary programs that if they've got something to do, they're less likely to be causing problems."
Similarly to the Dubbo project, Wellington have begun Wiradjuri Wheels, funded by the NSW Government's Transport Access Regional Partnerships grants program.
Through the program, children who have registered, are picked up from school and taken to the PCYC for activities, in the summer they're also taken to the pool, and dropped home later.
"About 40-50 kids who do that on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday," Mr Saunders said.
"So we're investing and trying to get more of these programs up and running and it's through community groups who run them often with PCYC."
"Really to help try and stop the [crime] problem or limit it, significantly for young people we need more of that sort of stuff."