WA Police have introduced a motocross program which has reduced illegal and unsafe motorbike use and also helped its young participants improve their school attendance.
Fremantle Youth Policing Officer, Senior Constable Derrick Herbert said the program had been three years in the making.
The successful, reward-based Cockburn Youth XLR8 Motocross program for vulnerable and at-risk youth was officially launched at the Coastal Motorcycle Club (CMC) track at Henderson in November last year.
“During 2019 and 2020, 13 young people aged 14-to-18 years from the Cockburn area learned safe motorbike riding and maintenance techniques as a reward for attending school regularly and staying out of trouble,” Senior Constable Herbert said.
“It has also reinforced road safety messages and provided instruction in basic first aid.”
He said the success of the pilot program had led to a partnership between the WA Police Force, Cockburn Youth Services and the CMC, with teenage participants referred from the Department of Communities and Youth Justice.
“The program utilises confiscated motorbikes donated to the program by the WA Police Force, with participants committing to individual goals, including increased school attendance and not offending, in return for the weekly coaching sessions at the CMC,” Senior Constable Herbert said.
The program runs every Monday for 10 weeks at a time with a rolling recruitment of new participants.
