Worst areas for youth crime in the ACT revealed
New figures have pinpointed the worst hot spots in ACT for youth crime. Explore the list of which suburbs recording the highest rates of offending.
Canberra Star
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Exclusive police statistics have revealed the worst areas for youth crime in the Australian Capital Territory.
ACT Policing data revealed there were 3550 offences committed by youth offenders in the ACT in the last three years.
The top five offences from the highest was common assault, followed by minor theft, riding/driving a motor vehicle without consent, damaging property and assault occasioning bodily harm.
When this data was broken down by patrol groups from July 2020 to July 2023, the district of Belconnen was the worst for youth crime with 972 crimes.
Further analysis also revealed the Woden district was the youth murder capital of the ACT with four homicides recorded in the last three years.
ACT Neighbourhood Watch president Laurie Blackall said the figures were on the decline since the introduction of ACT Policing’s Operation Toric.
This unit was created in August 2022 in an effort to curb the rise of police pursuits, stolen vehicles and property crime by recidivist offenders.
“Before that people were getting concerned about these repeated crimes, where they were being caught and let out into the community again,” Mr Blackall said.
Australian National University criminology professor Lorana Bartels concurred, and said the youth offender rate in the ACT had fallen consistently over the years.
Professor Bartels, who is a board member with the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, said it was 20 per cent lower than what it was in 2008-09.
The ANU professor said, however, there was still work to do to improve the relationship between youth offenders and the justice system and continue the decreasing rate.
“There are a lot of gaps in services, especially in relation to indigenous young people, young people also in the care and protection system, and those with disability and mental health issues, let alone those who meet all these criteria,” she said.
“The move to raise the minimum age will remove some young people from the justice system, but many stakeholders still have concerns about whether the appropriate systems are in place to address issues outside the justice system.”
DISTRICT BREAKDOWN
1.Belconnen
The top three offences for the northwest area of the ACT, which covers from Bruce up to Dunlop and Macgregor, included 166 assaults, 159 thefts and 106 stolen motor vehicle thefts.
Belconnen also had the most amount of youth burglaries out of every patrol group with 83 offences, along with 91 traffic offences and 93 incidences of property damage.
2. City
Canberra City came second with 788 offences over three years, with the patrol area encompassing Civic out to Fyshwick up to Watson and O’Connor.
Assaults again took the lion share of offences with 140 crimes, 112 thefts and 105 offences against the good order.
There were smaller figures of vehicle thefts which totalled 47 offences, along with 88 traffic offences.
3. Woden
Woden had 643 youth crimes with 155 assaults, 95 thefts and 60 offences of property damage.
The patrol group south of the CBD however had four homicides over the three year period but only four drug offences.
This district covers from Deakin to Phillip and Denman Prospect.
4. Tuggeranong
Tuggeranong had 585 youth crimes since July 2020 with 145 assaults, 85 traffic offences and 75 crimes of property damage.
The southernmost district, which encompasses Conder up to Kambah and Gilmore, had 14 sexual offences, along with 43 firearms and weapons crimes.
5. Gungahlin
Gungahlin appears to be the safest of the ACT’s police districts in relation to youth crime, with 503 offences including 106 assaults and 84 thefts.
The northern district which goes from Mitchell up to Taylor had 69 burglaries and 19 cases of sexual assault.
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