'Frightened in their own home': bumper operation to target youth crime ring leaders

Western NSW has been at the frontline of a youth crime crisis that has hit a number of towns in the west, namely Dubbo and Orange, and now there will be more police on our streets targeting young offenders.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos has announced a high-level youth strategy, including 60 new dedicated police and rapid response units to tackle juvenile crime across NSW.

Deputy Commissioner Pisanos launched Operation Soteria to address an escalation of violence in offenders aged between 11 to 16 years of age, across western and northern parts of the State.

In Dubbo, with Police Commissioner Karen Webb, the operation kicked off, focusing on the arrest of recidivist ring leaders and the diversion of young first-time offenders.

Operation Soteria will focus on aggravated break, enter and steal offences, stealing motor vehicles and 'post and boast' offences where kids use social media to gain notoriety for their crimes.

Deputy Commissioner Pisanos said there will also be a strong focus on diverting young offenders away from criminal behaviour.

"The operational arm of this operation will consist of high-visibility policing, targeting a defined cohort of hundreds of repeat offenders believed to be responsible for 90 per cent of youth crime across regional NSW," he said.

The new unit of up to 60 dedicated police will target regional hotspots including Moree, Tamworth, Dubbo, Orange, Tweed Heads, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey, Taree, and Newcastle over the next three months.

"This is about working to prevent, disrupt and respond to serious violent youth crime and reduce fear in the community," he said.

In 2024 ACM launched a series looking into whether tighter bail laws could fix the youth crime issue, something Orana and Far West Superintendent Tim Chinn said was possible.

"We're seeing a clear correlation between these changes and the reductions in crime, particularly among younger offenders," he said.

Others in the community have voiced their disappointment in the tighter bail laws that were passed into effect in March 2024.

Tatum Moore, CEO of the Dubbo Aboriginal Land Council, said rather than investing money into keeping kids locked up, she would like to see the government support programs which prevent them being "tangled in the justice system cycle".

"Giving children the services they need to stay off the streets, well-being support and mentoring and to be engaged in more productive activities... inspires social cohesion," she said.

Operation Soteria will see an extra 20 officers supplement the unit in the form of surge operations each week, to bolster operational numbers to 80.

Polair and roaming response units will complement high visibility operations.

"This is about sending a clear message to these young criminals that we are going to find you and lock you up," Deputy Police Commissioner Pisanos said.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the fear of crime in rural communities is having a significant impact.

"It's also about reducing fear in the community, nobody deserves to be frightened in their own home and in regional NSW that has been the case, it has to stop," she said.

In 2025 an innocent man was killed after a collision with a vehicle allegedly stolen by a group of teenagers in Gunnedah, sending shock waves throughout regional NSW.

This called for even tighter bail laws.

Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton said he had been working with communities for years and has done what he can from a Federal level.

"The crime and court system is ultimately the responsibility of the state government," he said.

"The NSW Labor Government announced a $26.2 million package to tackle regional youth crime in March last year, but we're yet to see any tangible change on the ground - if anything, crime has only worsened."

Under Operation Soteria, which means 'safety', command hubs will be established in each region, investigators will use real time intelligence to identify 'post and boast' social media trends, and those on the periphery of offending will be diverted to youth support services.

As part of the prevention arm of Operation Soteria, police will aim to identify and refer young offenders into programs such as YAMS (Youth Action Meetings) a multi-agency forum designed to help at risk young people from re-offending.

Other youth programs through the NSW Police Crime Prevention and Youth Command (CPYC) will also be utilised.

"Part of this mission is to lock up the ring leaders and divert others away from a life of crime," Deputy Commissioner Pisanos said.

"The prevention arm of this operation is extremely important as we want to funnel young kids on the fringe of this criminal activity into suitable programs and away from criminal activity."

Operation Soteria will be responsible for a statewide coordinated response to youth crime and will take overall command and control of criminal investigations into offending across Northern and Western NSW Police regions.

Soteria will oversee Operation Regional Mongoose, which was established in September 2023 and has been arresting, on average, 13 young offenders every week.

Crisis meetings with social media platforms, and the E-Safety Commissioner will also be called to shut down the novelty of posting criminal activity.

"To be clear, posting and boasting criminal activity will not give young offenders notoriety it will land them in custody," Deputy Commissioner Pisanos said.

Since new 'post and boast' legislation came into effect 12 months ago, 53 individuals have been charged, of those 27 were under the age of 16.

Operation Soteria will also work with community leaders to provide regular updates on progress to engage with victims of crime in impacted areas.

The initial focus will be on the following locations:

The initial phase of the operation will run for three months from today.