Week 9 - POLICING THE YOUNG

Question 1

What is the relationship between

young people and the police in Australia?

Answer 1

The police are:

–Gatekeepers of our criminal and youth justice systems

Question 2

What are the roles and activities of

the police in relation to young people?

Answer 2

– Law enforcement
– Order maintenance
– Crime prevention (including fear of crime)
– Social services (including emergencies); and
– Traffic management

Question 3

How do the police impact the lives of

young people?

Answer 3

– Large numbers of working class youth
– Highly visible
– Occupying public spaces
– Economically dispossessed, frustrated and angry
– The link between terrorism and Middle Eastern youth
– Moral panics
– Heighted levels of fear of crime among the middle class

Question 4

How do you maintain public order in the community?

Answer 4

Systematically regulate the youth
– Requires the police to closely regulate the spare time
and leisure activities of young people, particularly those
who are:
• From the working class; and/or
• Indigenous

Question 5

In addition to what the law permits, the
use of police discretion here could
also be dependent upon the following
factors:

Answer 5

–The local political context;
–The type of media coverage;
–The public’s response; and
–level of fear of crime

Question 6

Policing powers an operational styles. What is the coercive approach?

Answer 6

– This coercive approach entails:
• Increased general surveillance
• Specific surveillance of particular areas and groups
Aggressive use of police powers
• No toleration of anti-social or disorderly behaviour
• Top-down approach to crime and social control