Figures show effectiveness of police cautioning

Police cautioning of young people for minor offences in Western Australia is reducing pressure on the juvenile justice system, enabling it to focus on more serious cases.

The latest figures show cautioning has contributed to a 30 per cent fall in the number of children appearing for the first time in the Children's Court.

Charges referred to the Children's (First Offenders) Panel also fell by nearly 35 per cent compared to the previous year.

Police Minister Graham Edwards and Community Services Minister Eric Ripper today jointly announced the latest cautioning figures. The announcement took place at the Killara out-of-hours and weekend welfare service in Victoria Park, which has now been operating for about a year.

"Cautioning is just one important element of the Government's balanced and comprehensive strategy to reduce juvenile offending which includes early intervention, prevention, rehabilitation and, as a last resort, isolation of serious repeat offenders for the protection of the community," Mr Ripper said.

Killara - which is an Aboriginal word meaning 'always there' - provides help in cases when immediate family problems are behind the offending. Since the August 1, 1991 introduction of cautioning, Killara staff has made contact with 544 families in response to children being cautioned.

Mr Edwards said statistics for the six months from August, 1991 to January 1992, showed that nearly 2,000 (1,983) caution notices were issued.

Nearly two-thirds of the cautions were for property offences six per cent were for public order or minor drug offences, while less than five per cent involved traffic infringements.

Administrative instructions issued to police stated that unless there were extenuating circumstances, cautions should not be issued for unauthorised use of a motor vehicle and breaking and entering.

"The evidence shows that police officers are using suitable discretion in cautioning young people and have been involving parents in seeking restitution for victims," Mr Edwards said.

"These early figures demonstrate that cautioning appears to be achieving its aim to divert minor offenders away from the formal justice system and to encourage parents and families to take action where possible."

Mr Ripper said a key aim of cautioning was to reinforce the role of the family in preventing juvenile offending.

"It provides an opportunity for parents to be advised of their child's behaviour and encourages parental involvement and responsibility," he said.

"Cautioning means that children who have committed petty offences are promptly dealt with, in a fashion most meaningful to them, instead of being introduced, perhaps weeks later, to the necessarily cumbersome and impersonal formal justice system.

"The system also enables the police to advise the DCS of any welfare concerns they may have regarding specific families and children."