this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
38 points (97.5% liked)
Perth / Western Australia
629 readers
19 users here now
Below are some resources for Perth/Western Australian info that could help find the perfect story for that exceptional post.
Suggestions to add to the list are very welcome!
This community wishes to be about all things Perth/WA, not just latest news. Whether its memes, dreams, or custard creams! Tell us your Western Australian story! ๐ฆ
Local News/Lifestyle
University, TAFE and Related
Notre Dame
Miscellaneous
Brendan's Odyssey
Government/LGA
WA.Gov, announcements
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions
WA Podcasts
Wild WA Podcast
Occasional WA Focus
Renew Economy
ABC WA
ABC WA
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
In order for it to be plausible that it would reduce crime the police would need to be open about the fact that they are using this tactic. The only reason more than a handful of people actually know about this is the sound journalism by Mya Kordic
It may be legal but it is thoroughly immoral and one suspects if it was a white kid with wealthy parents it would've been chucked out.
How is it immoral?
I loathe the fact that to go to my local shops I have to drive my fucking car because there is a high chance that some fuckwit will steal my bike or scooter if I lock it at the entrance.
Fuck people who steal bikes and scooters. All they are doing is grabbing on to people barely one rung up the societal ladder than they are and pulling them down.
Go steal from a large corporation instead if you want sympathy.
There are ways of doing this without entrapment. If they want to catch bike and scooter thieves they can stake out the bike racks. I suspect no sane person leaves their bike unlocked there so they have to contrive an artificial situation to entice someone to commit a crime. How is this valuable policing? Had the police not bought a scooter and left it unlocked no crime would've been committed.
I have no illusions that the young fellow in question is an upstanding citizen but how is public interest served here? One kid gets a fine and arguably may hesitate before doing the same thing again but the problem is not this one kid, it is systemic and were it not for this news article no-one would even know about it meaning it is useless even for deterrence.
It is a waste of everyone's time, drags a kid who likely already has a shit life through the courts further alienating him, and did not even protect the property of a real person.
I don't think it's necessarily so pointless.
I do agree that it's ethically dubious and in a perfect world you'd have enough police to monitor areas where this is likely to happen, but that's not really the reality.
I don't really agree that no crime would've been committed if the police hadn't left a scooter there. Perhaps that's true, but it's more likely to me that delinquents are looking for opportunities all day.
I also don't agree that we should avoid charging kids with this type of crime. If the court is producing bad outcomes then that is what should be addressed.
On balance, I think it's the last, worst option. However, if police don't have the resources to manage this problem then it would allow you to grab a few kids who are hanging out at the same shop every day stealing everyone's stuff.