Ms Sarahjane McCreery:

First, I want to come back to a comment made earlier by Senator Ruane on perceptions of crime and community safety. Someone also commented on moving from antisocial to pro-social behaviour. That is the real issue and Deputy Pringle is correct in what he says. In some areas, antisocial behaviour is not considered antisocial; it is considered regular behaviour by young people. They are hanging around in certain areas mainly because there is nothing else for them to do. That was particularly true during the pandemic. It is the case that where there are high concentrations of drug use and drug-related crime and we see young people hanging around on corners, there is a perception that they are, automatically, engaging in antisocial behaviour. This, coupled with over-policing of these areas because they are hot spots for drug selling, means that young people naturally come in contact with the police. There is definitely an issue with certain areas being over-policed but under-protected. We need to move away from over-policing areas and increasing policing resources towards changing the type of policing, which everyone has referenced today.

On the restorative piece, restorative practice does not have to be limited to those engaged in antisocial or criminal behaviour. It can also be effective before that happens. Residents who have the perception that young people are engaged in antisocial behaviour might just need to build up a relationship with those young people, have a dialogue with them and discuss what is really going on. This is where local community safety partnerships can play a vital role, given that 51% of such partnerships are made up of community members, which is brilliant. How many of them are young people who are just harmlessly hanging around on street corners because they have nothing else to do? It is about engaging those young people in the process and having that dialogue. That will automatically reduce the perception of antisocial behaviour and as a result, young people will be less likely to be engaging with the police. It will have a ripple effect. It is important to make sure that the voices of young people are included and that the restorative piece happens.