A retired police officer allegedly assaulted at a shopping centre in Hobart’s northern suburbs last week says youth bail laws are failing, because there are “no consequences” for breaching them.
Phil Pyke, 62, suffered head injuries in the incident last Wednesday.
He said he was struck in the head with a sharp instrument after approaching a group of young people he said had been stealing from a supermarket.
Three teenagers, one aged 14 and two aged 15, have been charged with common assault and will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act, police said.
A fourth youth was arrested but released unconditionally.
Pyke, a former community police officer who also served 34 years in the army, part-time and full-time, said he had asked to be involved in the youth justice process.
Pyke said incidents involving young people were increasing and social media was making them worse. He rejected descriptions of such incidents as “isolated”.
“The key cause is the failures of the Youth Justice Act to actually have a level of accountability, not punishment, accountability for breaches of bail,” he told Pulse.
Pyke said the government had promised action in 2025 and that “the glacial pace of bureaucracies” was putting people in danger.
He said retired police officers were “sick of reporting things” because they never heard back and called the online reporting system “a distinct failure”.
Pyke said security guards had “no power” to act and called for them to be trained and sworn in as special constables, as security staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital have been in the past.
He also called for members of the public to be allowed non-lethal means of self-defence, such as pepper spray and batons.
“If you can’t protect the community, then let the community protect themselves,” he said.
Independent Elwick MLC Bec Thomas, who knows Pyke, said what happened was “totally unacceptable”.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe and be safe in our local shopping centres, in our local community,” she said.
Thomas said the government’s review of the Youth Justice Act was taking “far too long” and that the minister had promised her a discussion paper would be released in June.
“It’s now, what are we? October and still no discussion paper,” she said.
Thomas has put a motion on the Legislative Council notice paper calling on the government to respond to the idea of a second tier of policing, to provide more proactive patrols.
She pointed to Victoria, where community safety officers have powers of arrest and detention.
She said retailers were paying significant sums for security guards who could only “record and report”, which added to the cost of groceries.
Thomas said a therapeutic approach to youth justice had to be part of the solution, but “documents don’t keep people safe on the street”.
Asked whether Tasmania’s bail laws were strong enough to deter reoffending, government minister Nick Duigan said there were “potentially things that you might look at in regard to bail”, though he said he was not across all the details.
“I think we need to be approaching this with an eyes wide open stance,” he said.
Duigan said the government had progressed laws giving police more powers and wanted to be “tough on crime” and “tough on the causes of crime”.
Tasmania Police data shows 64 individuals accounted for half of youth crime charges last year.
Police advise anyone who witnesses a crime to ensure their own safety, remove themselves from any threat and contact police.
