Brisbane parents: are you worried that your kids could accidentally be caught up in a “youth crime crackdown”?
(Apologies to people from the regions, I posted this in the Brisbane sub, and it was taken down as not sufficiently Brisbane specific. I know people in regions have issues, but this is directed specifically at greater-Brisbane residents).
Any Brisbane parents afraid that their children may be accidentally caught-up in a “youth crime crackdown”?
It’s obviously good politics to emphasise youth crime, given the average age of voters, despite statistics showing that actual youth crime is low:
The Brisbane council election and by-elections in Brisbane this weekend showed that the “youth crime wave” is a theme politicians aren’t afraid to exploit for votes.
Politicians will be politicians, and they’ll look for angles to get elected, but I’m afraid that if police are given targets to meet, and there isn’t much actual crime, there’s going to be a lot of innocent kids caught up in the dragnet.
It would be sadly ironic if children had to be subject to helicopter parenting, not to keep them safe from criminals, but from the authorities.
EDIT to those people who say “my kids are good and have nothing to fear”, behold our southern neighbour: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/dozens-of-children-strip-searched-by-police-over-summer-20240313-p5fc6n.html
[NSW police] strip-searched 26 children between October 18, 2023 and February 14, 2024. They found weapons only three times