Teens commiting more violent offences than any other age group
TEENAGERS are now the state’s leading culprits for violent crime with statistics published on Thursday showing youths aged 15-19 have leapfrogged people in their 20s as the worst offenders for crimes against people.
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TEENAGERS are now the state’s leading culprits for violent crime.
Crime Statistics Agency Victoria figures published on Thursday show youths aged 15-19 have leapfrogged people in their 20s as the worst offenders for crimes against people.
The data also shows there were 6880 alleged offences in that age group for a “crime against a person” between July 2017 and June 2018 — up 4.5 per cent from the previous year.
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The booming number of youths committing crime comes as police across the state try to tackle a youth law and order crisis. The “crimes against a person” category includes assaults, sex attacks and robberies.
The 15-19 age group also topped the list of offenders in “property and deception” offences, including burglaries, theft and property damage.
Opposition police spokesman Edward O’Donohue said Victoria was in a youth crime crisis. “Victoria has a serious youth crime crisis that Daniel Andrews is simply incapable of fixing and only the Matthew Guy-led Liberal-Nationals Coalition has a clear plan to make Victoria safe,” he said.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said the figures showed authorities were on top of crime in Victoria, with a record 175,000 arrests made in the past year.
“We are heading in the right direction,” she said. “There is still more work to do — we want to drive the crime rate down as low as possible.”
Between July 2016 and June 2017, the 15-19 age group was the third highest for crimes against people, behind people aged 25-29 and 20-24. But now they are the top offenders in that crime category.
Australian, New Zealander and Sudanese were the highest offending youth groups.
There were 240 Sudanese youths aged 10-19 identified as offenders, 18 fewer than New Zealand youths.
Similar numbers were recorded among people aged 20-24, with 296 New Zealanders and 204 Sudanese.
On Thursday, police arrested a teenage boy over a series of frightening crimes in Melbourne’s west, including an aggravated burglary where a woman was menaced with a machete.
The 18-year-old was allegedly involved in three robberies at Hoppers Crossing and St Albans dating back to September 2.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said youth crime had dropped and a core group were behind most offences. “There is a couple of hundred youths we are proactively targeting,” he said.
The report revealed a 7 per cent drop in crime across Victoria, which Mr Patton attributed to a focus on “high-risk, high-harm” offenders.
“When you remove these offenders, you are taking out a lot of crime that is occurring,” he said.
Sex crimes jumped an alarming 13.3 per cent — up 1013 incidents to 8644.
New offences relating to revenge porn and grooming, as well as family violence and historical offences, drove up the rate, Ms Neville said.
Melbourne, Latrobe, Yarra, Mildura and Greater Shepparton recorded the most criminal incidents across the state.
STATS SNAPSHOT
Assault and related offences (up 5.6 per cent)
Sexual offences (up 14 per cent)
Robbery (up 11.2 per cent)
Stalking, harassment and threatening behaviour (up 0.8 per cent)
Burglary, breaking and entering (down 5.3 per cent)
Homicide and related offences (up 30.2 per cent)
Blackmail and extortion (up 30.5 per cent)
Arson (up 22.8 per cent)
Cultivation or manufacture of drugs (down 10.4 per cent)
Disorderly and offensive conduct (down 1.8 per cent)
*The number of alleged offender incidents by principal offence
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