CARR'S ELECTION STRATEGY GOING GANG-BUSTERS

New State Anti-gang Laws Simply Won't Work, Write Peggy Dwyer and Jane Sanders.

The law-abiding citizens of NSW should take no comfort from the latest
actions of Bob Carr and his Government in their so-called anti-gang
package. At best, they are part of a misguided effort to reduce violence by
introducing new offences and increasing penalties. At worst, they are a
cynical effort to win the election in 2003.

We have recently heard some colourful language about gangs marking out
their turf and creating no-go zones in parts of Sydney. Our new Police
Minister, Michael Costa, is being presented as a tough guy who has said he
is intent on "smashing the back of drug lords" and ensuring that "gang
members themselves become victims".

Late last week, Parliament passed a new act ostensibly aimed at breaking up
gangs. It is strongly influenced by US research showing that gangs share
certain characteristics, including identification with a particular territory.

The Justice Legislation Amendment (Non-Association and Place Restriction)
Act will enable courts to make orders - and police to set bail conditions -
dictating where people can go and who they can associate with. In reality,
they are already able to impose these kinds of restrictions.

Now the courts' powers have been expanded and it will be an offence to
breach a non-association or place restriction order. The maximum penalty
for such a breach is six months' imprisonment or a fine of $1100.

Nobody wants to live in a community that is unsafe. Most people would also
recognise that mixing with the "wrong crowd" is likely to get young people
into trouble. But it is ludicrous to think we can prevent crime by telling
friends, cousins or neighbours that they can't hang out together, as this
new act allows police and the judiciary to do.

Carr and his Government - and members of the community concerned about
their safety - are kidding themselves if they think these measures are
going to have any impact on gangs. Australian research has shown that
US-style gangs are a rarity here. The few genuine gangs in this state are
not made up of kids hanging out on street corners - they are organised,
sophisticated and unlikely to be rattled by this new legislation.

What the new law will do is to target disadvantaged young and indigenous
people who commonly associate with their peers in public spaces - often
because they have no-one else to support them and nowhere else to go. These
are the very people that the Government has previously said should be kept
out of the criminal justice and prison systems.

It comes during the 10th anniversary year of the report which followed a
major inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in custody. One recommendation of this
report was that young Aboriginal people should not be jailed for public
order offences, which introduced them early to the criminal justice system
and trapped them in it. Rather, the report said, efforts should be made to
keep youths out of the criminal justice system.

The NSW Department of Juvenile Justice recently released a strategic plan
aimed at reducing the disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal people
involved in the juvenile justice system. In 1997, the Carr Government
introduced the Young Offenders Act. By diverting young offenders away from
courts and detention centres, it aims to stop them reoffending.

Have these progressive ideas been forgotten, or are we just a step closer
to the election that the Government is convinced will be won by outbidding
the Opposition on tough law and order policies?

Resources need to be directed to lifting young people out of poverty and
giving them positive alternatives. This is not bleeding-heart liberal
theory - it's practical policy aimed at making our community safer.

The Government has also foreshadowed new laws to overrule a recent court
decision which held that random sniffer-dog searches were an invasion of
privacy and a breach of international human rights obligations.

Carr and Costa would be well aware that "drug lords" do not wander around
the streets, or catch the train, with kilograms of heroin concealed under
their jackets.

The use of drug dogs in public places means that thousands of dollars in
police resources are wasted catching recreational drug users, people with
addictions and the occasional small-time dealer.

As a community, we cannot feel secure just because the Government says it
is taking tough action. We should be concerned that resources are not being
targeted at the causes of crime. Until they are, none of us will be safe.