Carnarvon crime: WA’s top cop Col Blanch responds to claims troublemaker youths have turned town into war zone

WA’s top cop has called for “calm” after a Carnarvon leader pleaded with Premier Mark McGowan to help with a youth crime problem that has left some streets like “war zones” and said it was not just a problem for police to solve. Police Commissioner Col Blanch’s comments were supported by Carnarvon Shire President Eddie Smith on Wednesday, who said it was unfair the police were copping all the blame. Mr Blanch revealed senior police had met with Cr Smith in the past 24 hours. It came as a letter Cr Smith had written to Premier Mark McGowan and other senior ministers was published in the town’s newsletter. Cr Smith invited them to come to the town and witness the problems first-hand. “What is changing is the increase in community members that are absolutely broken from the ongoing impact of the actions of those in our community that are not being held accountable for their actions and then coming to me and begging for something to be done,” he wrote. Cr Smith said parts of town, namely Tonkin Crescent and David Brand Drive in Brockman, looked like a “war zone”, with “ongoing domestic violence, child abuse, alcohol and drug abuse and property damage.” Asked about the issue on Wednesday, Mr Blanch told ABC Radio: “Firstly I would call for some sense of calm in relation to the Carnarvon story.” “The crime stats are actually down,” he said. “The only crime that stats up in Carnarvon is domestic violence. “Any crime occurring anywhere is still unacceptable. “So I have a duty as police commissioner to make sure I’ve got good police there doing fast police response and responding to community concerns.” Mr Blanch said police had met with Cr Smith in the past 24 hours and “we’ve had a conversation about what concerns they have with police”. “No real concerns were raised in relation to police response,” he said. “I can say most of the recidivist offenders in Carnarvon have been arrested and charged on many occasions by police when the commit offences.” Mr Blanch said “the story is really about how can we best stop, particularly youth offenders, from continuing their offending”. “There has been a lot of narrative in the media and in the public and in government about young offenders, not only in Carnarvon but in the Pilbara and the Kimberley,” he said. “It really is about how do we get these kids on the right paths in their lives ... this is the test we must keep applying, and that is that all Government agencies must work better together, share information faster. “Police have a huge obligation on first response — we must bring people before the courts. But again, we are out there over and over sometimes arresting the same people and they aren’t resolving their pathway into crime.” The top cop said more police had been sent to Carnarvon and throughout the Midwest-Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley. “From our feedback we are receiving from the community, the police are attending and they are charging people when they are committing offences. So I think we are doing our job appropriately.” He was asked if he was satisfied with what other agencies, including those in Banksia Hill Detention Centre, were doing to help, such as in terms of intervention programs. “When I talk to my to my colleagues at the Department of Communities, Department of Justice, Health and Education, I do acknowledge that I probably have the easiest job of the lot because we have a very strict set of laws that we follow,” he said. “And we go and apply those laws dealing with complex, vulnerable families, dysfunctional families — alcohol affected, drug-affected. There’s no easy solution for some of these kids and families. “And I know there are teams up there ... working their hardest to resolve this for many many families. It’s just a large problem, a difficult problem and a challenging problem.” Mr Blanch’s comments came as Police Minister Paul Papalia responded to Cr Smith’s comments in Question Time on Tuesday. “I love Eddie, I think he’s wonderful, I think he’s a great representative for the people of Carnarvon. But one thing I would say is he has never been in a war zone if that’s what he’s claiming,” he said. “I saw Eddie on the 5th of May in my office with his CEO and I guarantee you one thing he said to me ... and that is the police are doing a wonderful job.” Cr Smith told The West Australian on Wednesday that he agreed the police were “doing a great job” and that it was a problem for the “entire community” to solve with the help of Government. “The Police Commissioner is spot on,” he said. “We have a superintendent here which we did meet with in the past 24 hours. We’ve had very blunt conversations.” “It’s disappointing that everyone is pointing the finger at the police because there are a lot of other organisations that could and should be doing more to make a difference and it’s too easy to point the finger at the police. “They’re as frustrated as the community is. They should be doing policing and not doing other things other organisations should be doing because they are not meeting the mark. “Carnarvon is a wonderful place. It’s on the cusp of some really positive developments occurring in the tourism area and in the mining area. We are really, really going forward but we need to resolve these issues so it’s an even better place to be.”