A disturbing trend of organised teenage bare-fisted brawls, attended by crowds who watch and record the events, has been exposed in the country town of Casino.
Dozens of fights have been documented on Instagram, with primary school-aged children, teenagers, and adults gathering to witness and encourage the fights.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Gavin Wood condemned those who watched without intervening, saying that they were as bad as the fighters. The police are investigating the crimes and have reached out to social media providers to remove the videos.
The town has experienced an increase in youth crime since the floods of 2022, and police are implementing various interventions, including school engagement and sporting partnerships with the PCYC, to address the issue.
Assistant Commissioner Wood emphasised that the responsibility for raising responsible children falls on the entire community.
“My view is, the people who are watching these fights are as bad as the people fighting,” Assistant Commissioner Wood told the Daily Telegraph.
“Especially when you look at the fights and see adults among the ones encouraging them and failing to even attempt to stop them, it is beyond belief.
“In terms of social media platforms being utilised, these trends go beyond stupidity and recklessness, these acts are crimes.
“Filming yourself committing a crime and posting the video online is a sure-fire way to get yourself arrested.
“We have an ongoing relationship with a large amount of social media providers, including the regulative authority, which includes the capability and capacity to have vision like this removed.
“It’s clear in my mind that this isn’t just a police issue, this is also a community issue. Everyone has to take responsibility and buy in. In line with the old adage ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ … that’s what I am talking about.”
Richmond Valley Council Deputy Mayor Stephen Morrissey said the situation in Casino is “getting worse”.
“Casino has a problem with youth and crime, you’re seeing it all the time,” Mr Morrissey said.
“A lot of the comments you see on Facebook are: ‘Where are the parents of the kids?’ It just seems to be getting worse as time goes on.
“They are talking about trying to bring back the blue light disco days, just to get some activities for kids. Our sports stadium was flooded so that’s been out of action, there’s a whole range of problems for the kids.”