Policing Young People in NSW A study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan Report Authors Vicki Sentas and Camilla Pandolfni This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 license. You may copy and distribute the document, only in its entirety, as long as it is attributed to the authors and used for non-commercial, educational or public policy purposes. ISBN 978-0-7334-3774-8 Suggested citation: Sentas, V and Pandolfini, C (2017) Policing Young People in NSW: A Study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan. A Report of the Youth Justice Coalition NSW (Sydney: Youth Justice Coalition NSW) Report Authors: Dr Vicki Sentas (UNSW Law and Redfern Legal Centre Police Powers Clinic) Camilla Pandolfini (Public Interest Advocacy Centre) Research assistance and contributions: Emma Bastable, Scarlet Wilcock, Kate Duffy The Members of the Youth Justice Coalition STMP working group have been: Kate Duffy (Marrickville Legal Centre) Julianne Elliott (Legal Aid NSW) Jo Evans (Legal Aid NSW) Peta MacGillivray (Legal Aid NSW) Jacki Maxton (Shopfront Youth Legal Centre) Liam McAuliffe (Marrickville Legal Centre) Rhiannon O’Donoghue (Legal Aid NSW) Camilla Pandolfini (Public Interest Advocacy Centre) Vicki Sentas (UNSW Law and Redfern Legal Centre Police Powers Clinic) Thank you to all of the individuals who reviewed and provided invaluable feedback and comments on this report, and to all the student volunteers who assisted with this report in some way. This report was written on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. The Youth Justice Coalition acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we work as the first people of this country. Youth Justice Coalition Report Policing Young People in NSW: A study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan Contents page Executive Summary 1 Recommendations 2 1. Introduction 2 1.1 Who has prepared this report? 1.2 A focus on young people: the research question and method 1.3 Limits to this research: domestic violence 1.4 What is the STMP: a tool, a process, a plan 2. The use of the STMP in Local Area Commands 8 2.1 How data on use of the STMP was obtained 2.2 Summary of use of the STMP in 2014-15 FY for the LACs of Redfern, Parramatta, Orana, Canobolas, Bankstown, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Mount Druitt, Barwon and St Marys. 2.3 Use of risk categories in the STMP 2.4 Gender and use of the STMP 2.5 Age and the use of the STMP 2.6 Racial background and use of the STMP 2.7 What the available data tells us about the targets of the STMP 3. Police powers in NSW 16 3.1 Personal search powers 3.2 Police directions 3.3 Safeguards relating to police powers 3.4 Trespass to land 4. Case Studies 20 4.1 Methodology 4.2 Findings 4.3 Select Case Studies: Six experiences of the STMP 5. Discussion 25 5.1 Young people have a right to know that they are subject to an STMP and their risk category 5.2 The reasons that young people have been placed on an STMP 5.3 Implementation of the STMP: no grounds for reasonable suspicion 5.4 The impacts of the STMP on Aboriginal young people 5.5 The impacts of the STMP on Aboriginal young people: The disruption of family relations 5.6 The impact of the STMP on therapeutic justice and diversion 5.7 The impacts of the STMP: Young people with cognitive and mental impairment Youth Justice Coalition Report Policing Young People in NSW: A study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan Contents (cont) 6. Youth offending in NSW and the relevant policy and legal frameworks 38 6.1 Measuring the effectiveness of the STMP 6.2 Youth offending in NSW: An overview 6.3 Young Offenders Act 1997 6.4 NSW Police Force Youth Strategy 2013 - 2017 6.5 NSW Police Force Aboriginal Strategic Direction 2012 – 2017 6.6 Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department: National Youth Policing Model 6.7 The Convention on the Rights of the Child 6.8 Alternative programs in NSW relevant to young people in the criminal justice system 7. The STMP: an ineffective crime prevention tool for young people 50 7.1 Risk factors for involvement of young people in the criminal justice system 7.2 Best practice in youth crime prevention APPENDIX APPENDIX ONE: Local Area Commands 57 APPENDIX TWO: Snapshot of the STMP in each Local Area Command 59 Youth Justice Coalition Report Policing Young People in NSW: A study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan Executive Summary The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police) Suspect Targeting Management Plan (STMP) seeks to prevent future offending by targeting repeat offenders and people police believe are likely to commit future crime. The STMP is both a police intelligence tool that uses risk assessment to identify suspects and a policing program that guides police interaction with individuals who are subject to the program. This report focuses on how the STMP is applied to children and young people. The report documents how the STMP is used in relation to young people, young people’s experiences with the STMP and the impact that the STMP is having on young people’s interactions with police and criminal justice. This report also documents the impact of the STMP on policing practice and police application of the law. Findings in this report are based on i) available quantitative data on program participants, ii) de-identified case studies drawn from interviews with lawyers, iii) publicly available guidance given to police on STMP operational procedures, and iv) analysis of case law and legislation. The research has been limited by the lack of publicly available information on the STMP and the absence, to date, of scrutiny and oversight of the program. By adopting a mixed methods approach, the report is able to make robust preliminary findings and identify areas for further investigation. The preliminary findings based on this research are: • Disproportionate use against young people and Aboriginal people: Data shows the STMP disproportionately targets young people, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and has been used against children as young as ten. • Patterns of ‘oppressive policing’ that may be damaging relationships between police and young people: Young people targeted on the STMP experience a pattern of repeated contact with police in confrontational circumstances such as through stop and search, move on directions and regular home visits. The STMP risks damaging relationships between young people and the police. Young people, their families or legal representatives are rarely aware of criteria used to add or remove people from the STMP. As the case studies show, young people experience the STMP as a pattern of oppressive, unjust policing. • Increasing young people’s costly contact with the criminal justice system and no observable impact on crime prevention: The STMP has the effect of increasing vulnerable young people’s contact with the criminal justice system. Application of the STMP can be seen to undermine key objectives of the NSW youth criminal justice system, including diversion, rehabilitation and therapeutic justice. The research has identified several instances where Aboriginal young people on Youth Koori Court therapeutic programs have had their rehabilitation compromised by remaining on the STMP. There is no publicly available evidence that the STMP reduces youth crime. • Encouraging poor police practice: In some instances, the exercise of police search powers in relation to a young person on the STMP have been found unlawful by the courts. The STMP may be inadvertently diminishing police understanding of the lawful use of powers (set out in the Law Enforcement Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2002 (NSW) (LEPRA)) and thereby exposing police to reduced efficacy and civil action. • No transparency and an absence of oversight, scrutiny or evaluation: The operation of the STMP is not transparent or accountable. Criteria for placement on the STMP are not publicly available, individuals cannot access their STMP plan and it is unclear what criteria are used by police to remove a person from the STMP. The report proposes a number of recommendations based on these findings and the research represented in this report. These recommendations provide clear and specific guidance to the NSW Police Force and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. Youth Justice Coalition Report 1 Policing Young People in NSW: A study of the Suspect Targeting Management Plan Recommendations Based on the research and findings presented here, the report recommends that: 1. NSW Police discontinue applying the STMP to children under 18. Children suspected of being at medium or high risk of reoffending should be considered for evidence-based prevention programs that address the causes of reoffending (such as through Youth on Track, Police Citizens Youth Clubs NSW (PCYC) or locally based programs developed in accordance with Just Reinvest NSW), rather than placement on an STMP. 2. NSW Police make the STMP policy and operational arrangements publicly available to enable transparency and accountability. 3. NSW Police amend the STMP policy so that any person considered to have a ‘low risk’ of committing offences not be subject to the STMP. 4. NSW Police amend the STMP Policy to mandate formal notification by police to any individual placed on a STMP, including reasons for placement on the STMP and the date of next review. Subsequent notifications to individuals on an STMP should outline the outcome of the review and reasons for the STMP being maintained or discontinued. 5. NSW Police make data on the STMP publicly available through the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR). Available data should include demographic information (age, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, ethnicity, Local Area Command LAC), as well as data on the length of time enrolled in the STMP and the category of risk determined.