Cops eye social media as Kimberley child gangs brag about criminal acts on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat

Kimberley children barely old enough to attend school are posting videos on social media detailing their crimes and challenging others to “do it better”. The Broome Advertiser has found countless TikTok and Snapchat accounts posting the videos, which detail alleged home invasions, motor vehicle thefts, and the smoking of drugs across several Kimberley towns, sometimes by kids as young as seven. One video, posted by a group of Derby youths who call themselves the BCB boys, was captioned “three stolen cars in one night” and depicted five children wearing gardening gloves on their hands and T-shirts over their faces as they were chased by police while in a stolen vehicle. Below the video, comments from children from Halls Creek, Kununurra and Broome claimed they could “do it better”. Another video shows the group posing in front of several stolen and destroyed vehicles which have “BCB” sprayed on the side. It is understood BCB stands for Blood City Boys — taking inspiration from the infamous Bloods and Crips rivalry in Los Angeles. Speaking to the Broome Advertiser, Shire of Derby-West Kimberley president Geoff Haerewa said the Americanisation of youths was nothing new, but social media had proved a dangerous new tool for the groups to flaunt their crimes. “It’s no secret the Kimberley has always had crime, but there is no doubt it’s getting worse,” he said. “These kids are actively competing with other ‘gangs’ from other Kimberley towns to see who can do the most damage.” Another video, posted by Broome-based gang BMEBoys, shows the group smoking what appears to be cannabis through an iced coffee bottle, posing with large quantities of the drug, and laughing as they break into houses and shops. It comes as several threats of vigilantism have cropped up from residents fed up with a perceived lack of action on juvenile crime across the State. Cr Haerewa said the State Government needed to “wake up” and pay attention to the issue, or run the risk of a repeat of the situation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 2016, when a 56-year-old man ran down and killed 14-year-old Elijah Doughty after his motorbike was taken. “I’m seriously concerned it’s getting to that point,” he said. “People are fed up, they are either leaving town, or they are starting to talk about taking things into their own hands, which is obviously not the way to go about it. “I would like to see some of these city politicians live with the crime we deal with — it wouldn’t happen — but unfortunately the Kimberley is out of sight, out of mind.” Some Kimberley businesses, like Broome Out of School Care Children’s Activities, have taken to social media to vent their frustration after repeat break-ins too. “Well ... I have run out of words to express what we are feeling right now,” the post said. “Third time this week, last night we got hit again, right before our school holiday program starts. “We are a small not-for-profit after-school and vacation care centre who has been operating in Broome since the late 80s. Feeling defeated, scared and emotional.” Kimberley Supt Craig Parkin said police were well aware of the social media pages, and had spent time identifying those in the videos. “Last week we had a number of Broome detectives travel to Derby and find the kids involved in these social media posts,” he said. “We’re also looking into what can be done with both the page owners and the social media companies to stop these posts. “I would urge community members to report any pages they come across to their local police station — the more we know, the more we can act on.” Supt Parkin said he was disheartened to hear Kimberley residents were talking of vigilantism. “I haven’t actually seen any people talking about vigilantism on social media, but we understand people are frustrated,” he said. “However, taking things into your own hands is not the answer. It’s not going to end well.” A trend of police being “targeted” also surfaced earlier in the year, with three police vehicles rammed by children in stolen vehicles in less than 72 hours — one of which left an experienced Kimberley officer, Neville Ripp, unable to work for months due to injury. The incident led Supt Parkin to issue a stark warning over police being “hunted” by youth, saying further tragedy would be unavoidable if something “drastic” wasn’t done. A State Government spokesperson said Police Minister Paul Papalia had been made aware of the social media posts, but the ability to stop the recording and sharing of footage had been a challenge. “WA Police has the ability to remove inappropriate or illegal material, and will continue to work with platform operators to monitor illegal acts which are shared,” the spokesperson said. They said the State Government was investing “more than ever before” in policing and crime prevention initiatives. “We’re funding and delivering an additional 950 police officers — a massive 15 per cent expansion in the size of the WA Police Force,” they said. The spokesperson said extra officers, including specialised youth policing officers, had already been allocated to the Kimberley.