Police say youth gangs on the rise as latest statistics reveal spike in child crime

Victorian youth gangs are continuing to plague police, who say child criminals have become the most worrying offenders, carrying out more violent and serious crimes than ever before.

Police say child criminals are the biggest concern for officers because they are committing more violent and serious crimes than ever before.

The biggest increase was in crimes committed by teenagers aged between 14 and 17 years old, which jumped by almost 30 per cent in 2023, marking their most serious offending since 2009.

That age group was behind 18,729 separate incidents in 2023, and figures show they are moving into more violent crime.

The latest Victorian crime data, which covers all offences recorded last year, has revealed they were behind 1311 additional assaults against a person, 531 more assaults and 788 more burglaries compared to 2022.

They also committed a further 688 car thefts and 696 robberies last year.

Figures show a worrying increase in crimes being committed by primary school aged children, with 10-13-year-olds responsible for their highest crime rate since 2010.

Overall, there was a 22 per cent rise in reported offences among that age group last year, when they committed 3254 crimes, which increased by 598 incidents compared to 2022.

More concerning is the spike in crimes committed by 10 and 11-year-olds, whose offending rose by more than 65 per cent last year.

Victoria Police’s Deputy Commissioner of regional operations Neil Paterson says youth offenders are driven by social media clout. Picture: Ian Currie

That increase marks their highest offending rate in eight years.

Young children are also being introduced to crime circles at record rates.

The 12 to 13-years-olds committing crime for the first time have continued to mark decade highs for first time youth offenders in another trend worrying the force.

At least one in five youths behind a crime is now a repeat offender.

1589 youths aged between 10 and 17 years old committed three or more separate crimes last year, a 19 per cent increase since 2022.

Almost 200 child recidivists were under 14 years old.

Twenty-four of those were 10 or 11 years old.

Of those, 11 were responsible for more than five crimes each.

Youth gangs continue to plague police, with 381 known youth gang members being arrested 1436 times last year, an average of about four times each.

Among those is a “core group” of 244 gang members, 65 of whom have been arrested more than 10 times.

The force’s youth gang task force Operation Alliance is monitoring 620 members of 43 youth gangs across the state.

Victoria Police’s Deputy Commissioner of regional operations Neil Paterson said youth offenders were a major driver in overall crime figures and were driven by social media clout.

“Child offending remains a real challenge for police and a significant driver of serious and violent crime in Victoria,” he said.

“Much of the child and youth offending we’re seeing is mindless and driven by the pursuit of notoriety or social media likes.”

The biggest increase is in crimes committed by teenagers aged between 14 and 17 years old, which jumped by almost 30 per cent in 2023.

Mr Paterson said the force was growing more frustrated with every child being released on bail.

“I am speaking to members on the front line and they do express a level of frustration around young people and (getting) bail,” he added.

“We’ve never cautioned more young people than we are at the moment.

“But we’re also seeing that cohort doing that high level harm offending and that is frustrating our police officers on the street who are catching them time and time again.”

There was also a 30 per cent increase in aggravated residential burglaries, a figure police say child offenders are largely responsible for.

The trend of teenagers breaking into homes searching for keys before stealing a vehicle is a major driver of that jump.

The Herald Sun has previously uncovered dozens of videos posted to social media of teenagers committing crimes.

They boast about stealing luxury cars and film themselves driving at dangerously high speeds.

But Mr Paterson said social media platforms, such as Instagram, had not been forthcoming in attempts to remove or ban the content.

He was baffled that a child posting a video of themselves driving in excess of 200km/h wouldn’t breach set guidelines online.

“I have heard some talk about banning the posting of this (and) criminalising the behaviour of posting to social media,” he said.

“But what I would say is a better tool for police is a way to remove these videos from social media rather than to charge an offender.

“We struggle sometimes with our engagement with many of these big social media companies to get them to remove posts.

“Sometimes we have success in getting these removed but most often we don’t have success as they won’t breach the guidelines of the individual social media companies.”

Figures show a worrying increase in crimes being committed by primary school aged children. Picture: iStock

But one of the most alarming figures released on Thursday related to child offenders aged 14 to 17-years-old.

This group committed 2221 burglaries across the state – more than six every day – representing a 55 per cent spike from 2022 to reach a five-year high.

“When interviewed, offenders are telling us they will walk up and down a street until they find a door or window that is unlocked. Our intelligence supports this, with over half of all homes burgled in key hotspots unlocked,” Mr Paterson added.

“While police will continue to patrol known hotspots every evening until dawn as part of Trinity, we are also calling on the community to play their part and lock their properties and cars.

“Operation Trinity is clearly Victoria Police’s most resourced operation at present, with local officers, Dog Squad, Public Order Response Team, and Highway Patrol swarming the suburbs each night while Air Wing assists from overhead.

“This is highlighted by the fact that police recovered 94 per cent of vehicles stolen during aggravated burglaries as part of Operation Trinity – cars stolen purely for joy riding and no financial gain.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin says the statistics are a ‘horrendous read for all Victorians’. Picture: Aaron Francis

Meanwhile, theft and deception crimes are driving a spike in the total number of reported crimes in Victoria.

There were 26,659 additional thefts compared to 2022, with stealing from a motor vehicle one of the most common offences.

In the past 12 months to December, there were 56,810 reported car-related thefts, an extra 9037 compared to the previous year.

That brings the total number of thefts in 2023 to 174,719.

Overall, there were 229,459 property and deception incidents, an increase of 18 per cent.

Retail theft has continued to plague businesses, who reported 26,178 crimes last year, up more than 38 per cent compared to 2022.

Theft was also behind that increase, with 13,182 reports of people stealing from a retail store.

Crime Statistics Agency chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said crime remained below pre-pandemic levels, but figures showed Victorians were feeling the impact of rising living costs.

“The recent upturn in most key crime measures is due to increases in high volume Property and deception offences categories, particularly in thefts from motor vehicles and retail stores,” she said.

“An increase in these acquisitive offence types reflects in part a return to pre-pandemic trends, but also is in line with current cost of living pressures.”

Police Minister Anthony Carbines says repeat young bail breachers are of huge concern for government. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Police Minister Anthony Carbines said repeat young bail breachers were of huge concern for government.

“Youth crime is certainly the significant target of police operations and resources at this time,” he said.

“This is a scourge that is appearing across jurisdictions.

“It is the thrill seekers who cause damage in terms of the disruption and trauma they cause to victims and not understanding the seriousness of the crimes they are committing.

“Any victim of crime is one victim too many.”

Mr Carbines said police were appropriately resourced to deal with the crime crisis.

“I’m very pleased to see that Victoria Police are working very hard to make more arrests than ever before,” he said.

“There’s always more to do and we will provide every resource and effort that Victoria Police need for the work they do to hold perpetrators to account.”

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin said the statistics are a “horrendous read for all Victorians”.

“One of the most important things that any government can do is ensure that the community are safe in their own hands and Labor has proved they are not up to it,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter where you are, these crimes are increasing.”

Mr Battin, a former police officer, said a crime prevention model needed to be urgently funded.

“That is the only way we can reduce the crimes,” he said.

“Until these things can change, people in this community can have no confidence in this government, and particularly this minister.”

Mr Battin said he is open to raising the age of criminality in future, but now was not the right time.