Latest news with #Pisanos
Sydney Morning Herald
30-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Post-and-boast' youth criminals targeted by covert intelligence
NSW Police already have 'real-time capability', but it is extraordinarily resource-intensive. In Queensland, an entire unit was established in mid-2023 to target youth crime. Soteria will be a test bed to see if a similar model should be established in NSW. Soteria has so far investigated 255 break-ins and 197 stolen cars across the state's northern and western regions. Of the 164 people charged, 119 were under the age of 18. More than one-third of the total were on bail for similar offences at the time of their arrest. Pisanos said Soteria's arrests had netted repeat offenders, who had been given bail time and again by the courts, and had become 'ringleaders' or 'influencers' among other vulnerable youngsters. Loading Those criminal influencers were targeted again over the weekend, with 33 people charged in a blitz around Dubbo and Walgett as police went door to door to check up on bailed young people. Among them, police allege, was a 15-year-old boy found with the keys to a stolen SUV in his Walgett home. Police claim he and a second teenager broke into the home of an 89-year-old man, threatened him with a baseball bat, and fled in his car, leading police on a high-speed chase. An hour later police swooped on the co-accused, a 14-year-old boy. 'We will extend a hand in help to those who want it, but extend police tactics and a set of handcuffs to those who don't and continue to commit these violent offences,' Pisanos said. In late March, Premier Chris Minns extended strict laws making it harder for young people accused of repeat car theft and break-ins to be released on bail. Magistrates need to have 'a high degree of confidence', under Section 22C of the Bail Act, that an accused child will not commit a serious offence while on bail. That same month the youth prison population was at 229, 10 per cent higher than one year earlier. 'Unfortunately, the fight for us continues when you realise 36 per cent of those charged in the last three months had already been given bail,' Pisanos said. 'We need the courts to use 22C when dealing with young, violent recidivists.' Crime statistics from the last two decades universally show two main trends; property crime, including theft, break-in and robbery, is dropping while sexual and domestic violence is rising. But a more granular examination of data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals that over the last two years many regions have recorded localised spikes in break-ins, robberies and car thefts. Dubbo, Gunnedah, Inverell, Leeton, Lismore, Moree, Narrandera, Narromine, Newcastle, Parkes, Tamworth, Walgett, Tenterfield, Warrumbungle Shire and Coonamble are areas impacted, according to the latest BOCSAR data. But among the personal tragedies and shocking statistics about youth incarceration, there are shoots of hope. More than 80 young people have been referred to youth action meetings – known as YAMs – under Soteria, which involves police working with government and non-government services to try to turn their lives around. 'I met with a young 13-, 14-year-old boy in Dubbo, he walked himself into the PCYC and wanted to learn boxing,' Pisanos said.
The Age
30-06-2025
- The Age
‘Post-and-boast' youth criminals targeted by covert intelligence
NSW Police already have 'real-time capability', but it is extraordinarily resource-intensive. In Queensland, an entire unit was established in mid-2023 to target youth crime. Soteria will be a test bed to see if a similar model should be established in NSW. Soteria has so far investigated 255 break-ins and 197 stolen cars across the state's northern and western regions. Of the 164 people charged, 119 were under the age of 18. More than one-third of the total were on bail for similar offences at the time of their arrest. Pisanos said Soteria's arrests had netted repeat offenders, who had been given bail time and again by the courts, and had become 'ringleaders' or 'influencers' among other vulnerable youngsters. Loading Those criminal influencers were targeted again over the weekend, with 33 people charged in a blitz around Dubbo and Walgett as police went door to door to check up on bailed young people. Among them, police allege, was a 15-year-old boy found with the keys to a stolen SUV in his Walgett home. Police claim he and a second teenager broke into the home of an 89-year-old man, threatened him with a baseball bat, and fled in his car, leading police on a high-speed chase. An hour later police swooped on the co-accused, a 14-year-old boy. 'We will extend a hand in help to those who want it, but extend police tactics and a set of handcuffs to those who don't and continue to commit these violent offences,' Pisanos said. In late March, Premier Chris Minns extended strict laws making it harder for young people accused of repeat car theft and break-ins to be released on bail. Magistrates need to have 'a high degree of confidence', under Section 22C of the Bail Act, that an accused child will not commit a serious offence while on bail. That same month the youth prison population was at 229, 10 per cent higher than one year earlier. 'Unfortunately, the fight for us continues when you realise 36 per cent of those charged in the last three months had already been given bail,' Pisanos said. 'We need the courts to use 22C when dealing with young, violent recidivists.' Crime statistics from the last two decades universally show two main trends; property crime, including theft, break-in and robbery, is dropping while sexual and domestic violence is rising. But a more granular examination of data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals that over the last two years many regions have recorded localised spikes in break-ins, robberies and car thefts. Dubbo, Gunnedah, Inverell, Leeton, Lismore, Moree, Narrandera, Narromine, Newcastle, Parkes, Tamworth, Walgett, Tenterfield, Warrumbungle Shire and Coonamble are areas impacted, according to the latest BOCSAR data. But among the personal tragedies and shocking statistics about youth incarceration, there are shoots of hope. More than 80 young people have been referred to youth action meetings – known as YAMs – under Soteria, which involves police working with government and non-government services to try to turn their lives around. 'I met with a young 13-, 14-year-old boy in Dubbo, he walked himself into the PCYC and wanted to learn boxing,' Pisanos said.
The Age
08-06-2025
- The Age
The moment NSW's youth crime wave shocked top cop
'My heart goes out to our police facing the dilemma of trying to protect the community and enforce the law at the same time in what is more often than not youth with complex backgrounds.' Pisanos had deployed a disruptive taskforce, known as Operation Soteria, which turns anti-gangland tactics against ringleaders of violent, repeat-offending youth gangs. One of the boys in the Bourke crash was a Soteria target, who had tried to separate himself but been pulled back into the mix. 'It's a deadly business, and the stakes are high,' Pisanos said. Teenagers are stealing guns, leading police on high-speed chases, and even helping in underworld hits – all for online clout – in a shocking crime wave across Sydney and the NSW regions. But as police lock up ringleaders, and services try to reach vulnerable youths, indifferent social media giants are refusing to do their part to end the violence. Youth crime has been changing over the decade. Car theft is up 160 per cent, domestic violence and sexual crimes have spiked by about 30 per cent, and residential break-and-enters have risen by 15 per cent. But some cohorts of repeat offenders are also becoming increasingly violent, according to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into community safety, which released its recommendations last week. Some are considered so dangerous that support programs are refusing to take them in. Pisanos rattles off programs he's been plugging police into – Youth Action Meetings, PCYC, even the NRL, to help lower-risk teenagers cut ties with the violent criminal influences Soteria is targeting. 'We know we can't police our way out of the deeper issues, but we have to balance community safety,' Pisanos said. 'No PCYC program will help some of these people who have entrenched violent behaviour.' This week a school cleaner in Moree was allegedly confronted by two teenagers, one armed with a tomahawk, who robbed her for her car. They allegedly crashed the vehicle minutes later. Three days earlier, also in Moree, a group of teenagers allegedly broke into a home and stole a ute. Police threw road spikes under the speeding vehicle and grabbed the 14-year-old driver, along with his three passengers aged 14, 12, and 11. Loading Social media video, obtained by the Herald, shows children in another high-speed chase in the state's west, blasting rap music in a stolen car as sirens flash behind them. In yet another video, children point hunting rifles at one another and throw gang signs with the message '2830 on top' in an apparent reference to the Dubbo postcode. A third video shows children flashing knives at a terrified couple in bed during a break-and-enter. The common thread is what police have come to call 'post and boast', where youngsters film and share their criminal exploits online. A police delegation last year showed such videos to the foreign tech companies that run social media in Australia, asking to expand the definition of 'harmful content'. 'The videos weren't at the extreme end of horror, but they were at the extreme end of influence,' Pisanos said. 'This is the stuff that influences lives and decisions and, ultimately, community safety.' One video showed teenagers in a high-end Mercedes, stolen from Sydney's east, hitting 280km/h in a police chase before crashing. But because most post-and-boast videos didn't show actual violence, the tech companies concluded they do not breach their terms of use. 'They're just not at the table, it's challenging,' Pisanos said. Instead, police are moving their own technology – facial recognition and other secretive software – to monitor social media in real-time. The videos aren't just used to boost notoriety; they have a retraumatising effect on victims and a copycat effect on susceptible followers, Pisanos said. 'We are seeing extreme right-wing groups recruiting young men through hypermasculine messaging, and see it play out in this violence,' Pisanos said. 'It's absolutely chilling. And it's not just kids in Brewarrina or Dubbo or Moree, it's kids in the eastern suburbs.' Last week, police charged a 16-year-old boy with delivering a 'kill car' to a hit squad in Guildford. Police allege the car was to be used by an underworld gang – a fully loaded assault rifle, pistol, and jerry can were stashed inside.
Sydney Morning Herald
08-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
The moment NSW's youth crime wave shocked top cop
'My heart goes out to our police facing the dilemma of trying to protect the community and enforce the law at the same time in what is more often than not youth with complex backgrounds.' Pisanos had deployed a disruptive taskforce, known as Operation Soteria, which turns anti-gangland tactics against ringleaders of violent, repeat-offending youth gangs. One of the boys in the Bourke crash was a Soteria target, who had tried to separate himself but been pulled back into the mix. 'It's a deadly business, and the stakes are high,' Pisanos said. Teenagers are stealing guns, leading police on high-speed chases, and even helping in underworld hits – all for online clout – in a shocking crime wave across Sydney and the NSW regions. But as police lock up ringleaders, and services try to reach vulnerable youths, indifferent social media giants are refusing to do their part to end the violence. Youth crime has been changing over the decade. Car theft is up 160 per cent, domestic violence and sexual crimes have spiked by about 30 per cent, and residential break-and-enters have risen by 15 per cent. But some cohorts of repeat offenders are also becoming increasingly violent, according to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into community safety, which released its recommendations last week. Some are considered so dangerous that support programs are refusing to take them in. Pisanos rattles off programs he's been plugging police into – Youth Action Meetings, PCYC, even the NRL, to help lower-risk teenagers cut ties with the violent criminal influences Soteria is targeting. 'We know we can't police our way out of the deeper issues, but we have to balance community safety,' Pisanos said. 'No PCYC program will help some of these people who have entrenched violent behaviour.' This week a school cleaner in Moree was allegedly confronted by two teenagers, one armed with a tomahawk, who robbed her for her car. They allegedly crashed the vehicle minutes later. Three days earlier, also in Moree, a group of teenagers allegedly broke into a home and stole a ute. Police threw road spikes under the speeding vehicle and grabbed the 14-year-old driver, along with his three passengers aged 14, 12, and 11. Loading Social media video, obtained by the Herald, shows children in another high-speed chase in the state's west, blasting rap music in a stolen car as sirens flash behind them. In yet another video, children point hunting rifles at one another and throw gang signs with the message '2830 on top' in an apparent reference to the Dubbo postcode. A third video shows children flashing knives at a terrified couple in bed during a break-and-enter. The common thread is what police have come to call 'post and boast', where youngsters film and share their criminal exploits online. A police delegation last year showed such videos to the foreign tech companies that run social media in Australia, asking to expand the definition of 'harmful content'. 'The videos weren't at the extreme end of horror, but they were at the extreme end of influence,' Pisanos said. 'This is the stuff that influences lives and decisions and, ultimately, community safety.' One video showed teenagers in a high-end Mercedes, stolen from Sydney's east, hitting 280km/h in a police chase before crashing. But because most post-and-boast videos didn't show actual violence, the tech companies concluded they do not breach their terms of use. 'They're just not at the table, it's challenging,' Pisanos said. Instead, police are moving their own technology – facial recognition and other secretive software – to monitor social media in real-time. The videos aren't just used to boost notoriety; they have a retraumatising effect on victims and a copycat effect on susceptible followers, Pisanos said. 'We are seeing extreme right-wing groups recruiting young men through hypermasculine messaging, and see it play out in this violence,' Pisanos said. 'It's absolutely chilling. And it's not just kids in Brewarrina or Dubbo or Moree, it's kids in the eastern suburbs.' Last week, police charged a 16-year-old boy with delivering a 'kill car' to a hit squad in Guildford. Police allege the car was to be used by an underworld gang – a fully loaded assault rifle, pistol, and jerry can were stashed inside.
