KEY POINTS:
The Mayor of Manukau City, which has been the scene of two murders since Friday, says minor offending such as tagging is the starting point for youngsters to go on to commit more serious crimes.
Len Brown was commenting after the murders in Manurewa, including one in which a 50-year-old man is alleged to have killed a 15-year-old boy he caught tagging a fence in Southview Place.
A 16-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the other incident, in which 22-year-old Krishna Naidu was killed in his parents' dairy in Finlayson Ave on Friday.
Mayor Brown last night described the two killings as gratuitous acts of violence.
Tagging was a big issue in Manukau City, he said, but the Manukau Beautification Charitable Trust, which works in conjunction with police, had managed to reduce the problem by 60 to 70 per cent.
The trust spends around $1.2 million a year countering graffiti.
"Tagging is a starting point for a lot of youngsters getting on to the criminal treadmill. Graffiti in our city is an issue we absolutely want to get on top of," Mr Brown said.
Lua Maynard, a health promoter for a Youthline violence project at Friendship House in Manukau, said the problem of youth violence is just "the tip of the iceberg".
"If we don't take a more proactive, preventive approach, we'll be seeing a lot more of this. It's only when you see it in a particularly shocking way that people stop and ask why."
Mr Maynard said it was vital to look at why youths were resorting to violence, and he argued it was to do with the behaviour of their elders.
"A lot of this behaviour is mirroring, reflecting what they see at home. If you teach kids from the start that if you really get mad it's okay to lash out, then that's all they know."
Mr Maynard said the solution wasn't a fast one. It must be collective, starting with the provision of resources from the Government, and the community acknowledging there was a problem and working together to solve it.
Manukau City councillor Daniel Newman, who represents Manurewa, said some of the things being done to address social problems included a campaign to review the location and number of liquor outlets, and the level of truancy.
He said groups in Clendon had also been working together to deliver services and activities for young people.
"For us, it's very frustrating because it's two steps forward and one step backwards."
Mr Newman said tagging was a big problem in the area. "You wouldn't believe how much money the council spends on anti-graffiti initiatives every year."
Sully Paea, co-manager of Otara's Crosspower Ministries, said criminals are getting younger, and the crimes they commit more ruthless.
"It's a concern that the youth of today is getting more ruthless, more violent. They know that if they're under 17 it'll be a slap on the wrist, and they'll get away with it."
Mr Paea said it was a concern that some people were beginning to dish out their own punishment.
"I know of one incident where an adult came looking for a young kid to give him a taste of his own medicine, and that's a concern. People will get to a point where they just crack."
Mr Paea said current laws weren't working, and the punishment no longer fitted the crime.
"Laws that worked 30 years ago don't work any more. The community will take matters into its own hands, and that's what we're worried about.
"There are a lot of angry kids out there.
"They have to know they are part of something, that they belong somewhere, and that crime, drugs and alcohol are not the answer."
