Stateline Western = Australia

Transcript

Midnight Basketball A Winner in Midvale

Broadcast: 31/07/2009

Reporter: Claire Moodie

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If you think boredom is a poor excuse for juvenile = crime,=20 our next story might change your mind. A program being run by police in th= e City=20 of Swan appears to confirm that the two are linked. The free basketball=20 tournament on Saturday nights is proving successful at luring young teens = off=20 the streets and away from a path of drugs and anti-social behaviour. Clair= e=20 Moodie reports on the program known as 'Midnight Basketball' that's travel= led=20 all the way to suburban Perth from the Bronx in New York.
CLAIRE MOODI= E,=20 REPORTER: It's Saturday night in downtown Midvale, a hot spot for juvenile= =20 crime. But tonight the police are in action on this local basketball court= , as=20 well as on the streets.
FIRST CLASS CONSTABLE ROBYN COTTMAN, CRIME=20 PREVENTION UNIT: There's a real myriad of backgrounds. Most of them, are w= hat we=20 call "at risk".
CLAIRE MOODIE: It's a program that's brought local poli= ce=20 officers and young people together in an unfamiliar - more positive - sett= ing.=20 We realise that there's nothing for kids to do here on a weekend at night.= =20 They'd be walking the streets, they'd be going into Northbridge, getting u= p to=20 trouble.
CLAIRE MOODIE: The City of Swan is an ideal candidate for thi= s=20 program, which was invented in the US to curb anti-social behaviour on the= =20 streets. The number of car thefts is 65 per cent higher here than the stat= e=20 average. Burglaries are 25 per cent higher and the number of assaults 14 p= er=20 cent higher. Many of the offences are committed by local youth.
ROBYN=20 COTTMAN: Knowing these kids that we had here, I was probably expecting the= =20 worst. So I was very surprised at their fantastic behaviour and, like I sa= id,=20 just their change in attitude and their confidence and those sorts of thin= gs. It=20 was very surprising.
CLAIRE MOODIE: While basketball's the main attract= ion,=20 those who turn up also get fed and dropped home at the end of the night fo= r safe=20 measure.
IAN WESTMORE, OFFICE OF CRIME PREVENTION: As you can imagine, = just=20 opening the doors and letting some of the kids loose to roam the streets a= t=20 midnight is probably not a good idea. It's really defeating the purpose of= the=20 program. So it's a compulsory part of the program that the kids get delive= red=20 home to their doorstep at the end of each night.
CLAIRE MOODIE: The wee= kly=20 event depends heavily on volunteers. Among them is Paul Rogers of the=20 Wildcats.
PAUL ROGERS, PERTH WILDCATS: Some of the kids are just amazin= g, you=20 know. They obviously haven't had much coaching, but they're so naturally g= ifted=20 at all kinds of sports. So, they're pretty cheeky, but they're very talent= ed and=20 they're really fun to work with and they're really receptive to learning s= ome of=20 the things that we can teach them.
CLAIRE MOODIE: But if this all seems= too=20 easy, there's a catch.
PRESENTER;
A yellow card is something that yo= u'll=20 be given as a warning. So, if you're play fighting or sparring around or y= ou're=20 swearing and carrying on, just chipping someone, it'll buy you a yellow ca= rd.=20 You get three yellow cards, it equals a red card. A red card equals go hom= e on=20 the night and miss the next week.
CLAIRE MOODIE: Midnight Basketballers= can't=20 play unless they also take part in motivational workshops, conducted by=20 presenters with a few home truths to impart.
IAN WESTMORE: We had one=20 presenter talk about what life is really like for kids at Rangeview and so= me of=20 the youth detention centres, trying to de-glamorize what a life of crime c= an=20 lead to.
CLAIRE MOODIE: Communication skills and employment are also on= the=20 workshop agenda, and the messages appear to be sinking in.
CHILDREN:They=20 tell you to, most of them, to respect your elders and to stay out of troub= le as=20 well.
Stay away from drugs too.
And drugs and don't drink or anythi= ng.=20
Don't follow, be yourself and take another path. So, yeah.
And thi= nk=20 before you act.
CLAIRE MOODIE: But is the program actually curbing=20 anti-social behaviour? Robyn Cottman says it's early days, but the signs a= re=20 positive.
ROBYN COTTMAN: There's been a number of areas that did reduce= in=20 crime. Whether we can sort of solely attribute it to this program or not i= s=20 another thing. Obviously, we did have a number of our priority offenders h= ere=20 who didn't come into contact with police during that time, so that's anoth= er=20 positive thing. A number of those kids who do go into Northbridge were=20 here.
CLAIRE MOODIE: The initiative's got the stamp of approval from on= e=20 spectator, who knows more than most about teenage angst.
DENIS REYNOLDS= ,=20 CHILDREN'S COURT PRESIDENT: That personal sense of achievement: I've done= =20 something, I've done something well and it makes them feel good about=20 themselves. And feeling good about yourself is where it all starts. It's a= great=20 prevention and diversion means, and I prefer to see kids here than see the= m in a=20 courtroom.
CLAIRE MOODIE: There's been a positive spin-off for the some= times=20 strained relations between police and local youth.
ROBYN COTTMAN: I kno= w that=20 there were many comments initially, as in the kids were saying, "Why are t= he=20 police here? Why are the police here?" And the youth workers will say, "We= ll,=20 they're the ones that have made this happen. They're the ones that have pu= t this=20 on for you." And they were sort of like. "Oh, oh, OK then." So, they sort = of=20 look at you - rather than look at you with those sort of those "Oooh" eyes= , it=20 was more like they would look at you with, "Oh, OK," and gradually, over a= =20 period of time, they'd start to talk. And they've seen us, for once, in a= =20 different light.
CLAIRE MOODIE: And, week by week, the number of specta= tors=20 has been growing.
ROBYN COTTMAN: The first few weeks, there was hardly= =20 anybody turn up besides the kids, and so seeing the families come down and= show=20 support was just great.
CLAIRE MOODIE: It's an approach that other are= as of=20 the state have their eyes on. Similar tournaments are being considered for= =20 Armadale, Kununurra and Broome. And in Midland, the program's proved so po= pular,=20 there's another contest planned to start this weekend.
ROBYN COTTMAN: E= ight=20 weeks is nothing. We need this to be running for years, so that the kids k= now it=20 becomes a regular part of their life, not just something that is there for= one=20 moment and taken away the next.

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Midnight Basketball A Winner in Midvale