Police arrest 1200 in two years in crackdown on youth crime
A police program set up to smash youth gang crime has made more than 1200 arrests in the past two years. It cames as police look for new ways to tackle youth crime and repeat offenders.
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A police program set up to smash youth gang crime has made more than 1200 arrests in the past two years.
The Herald Sun can reveal 4,300 offences by young criminals have also been detected by police as part of Operation Wayward and Operation Regnant.
Deployed across Melbourne’s western suburbs since 2017, Wayward has seen police focus on youth and high-harm crimes.
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Regnant has deployed officers in a high visibility response to high harm “networked youth offending”.
It comes as Victoria Police looks to expand its successful Youth Specialist Officer (YSO) program.
The YSOs target repeat young criminals, with police officers trying to work with the offender’s family, schools and the community to get their lives back on track.
Police Minister Lisa Neville paid tribute to the officers who tackle youth crime.
“These hardworking YSOs are already making a significant difference in turning around the lives of some of our most serious young offenders,” Ms Neville said.
“There’s still more to do, but these officers are making sure Victoria Police can better respond to the youth crimes that are causing the most harm.”
North West Metro Region Superintendent Therese Fitzgerald said almost all of the new 42 YSOs have now been deployed across the state.
“The reality is we know that there are still a small percentage of young people creating fear in our community and we want to stamp this out,” Supt Fitzgerald said.
“It’s really important that we support a range of initiatives to engage with at-risk youth and prevent people from committing crime.
“The YSOs have dedicated themselves to a challenging but rewarding role, focusing
on high-harm crime, such as serious assaults, aggravated burglaries and carjackings.
“They have the important opportunity to positively shape and make a real difference to a young person’s life, while helping to keep the community safe.”
Due to the success of the YSO roles, the northwest metro regional crime squad is seeking to create two extra YSO roles to work with Operation Wayward.
The YSOs are a new sworn position within Victoria Police and were established
following a commitment in the Victorian Government’s Community Safety Statement
2017.