00:00Three nights in a police watch house, that's the unofficial penalty for some Territory
00:08children caught up in crime.
00:11I've been seeing these young people on a Monday morning, they've not slept for three days,
00:16they've barely eaten.
00:18Sleeping next to toilet bowls and people using the toilet, lights on 24-7, I mean it's, you
00:24know, just beggars belief that in a country like Australia that we are treating our people
00:29like this.
00:30Under new rules introduced this month, NT local court judges are no longer available
00:36for after hours bail reviews for children taken into custody.
00:40When remand warrants aren't signed it means that the young person can't go to the detention
00:43centre.
00:44So as a result they're staying in the watch house overnight.
00:47Earlier this month, a 15-year-old girl was caught shoplifting $60 worth of items and
00:53riding as a passenger in a stolen car.
00:56She spent three nights in the Palmerston watch house.
01:00On her own in a cell, listening to other prisoners screaming and shouting, the lights on 24-7,
01:06you can't sleep.
01:07Youth crime is a major issue in the Northern Territory, with business owners and residents
01:12frequently venting their frustrations over extensive property damage and stolen vehicles.
01:18But human rights experts say detaining children in watch houses won't solve the issue.
01:23In fact, it'll have the opposite effect.
01:26We're in fact training these children to become better and better criminals.
01:31We are making the problem worse at great expense to the community.
01:37An NT court spokesman says the local court is monitoring the impact of its service cuts,
01:42prompted by growing pressure from increasing prisoner numbers.
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