Police believe kids seeking fame is behind a rise in youth crime

A worrying increase of crimes committed by youths is a result of kids chasing fame and notoriety according to police.

Police say children seeking notoriety has been behind a big youth crime spike.

Children aged between 10 and 13 years old chasing notoriety and flashy items are behind a worrying spike in robberies and thefts, police say.

The latest crime data, released on Thursday, has revealed crimes committed by children as young as 10 have risen by more than a third compared to this time last year.

There were 3,277 recorded offences committed by youths in that age bracket in the past year, an increase of 815 crimes.

New crime data revealed crimes committed by children have risen significantly.

The increase marks the highest number of offenders in that age bracket in almost a decade, with 2172 boys being picked up for offences, the most since 2011, and 1105 girls, the highest since 2015.

Teenagers aged between 14 and 17 years old mirrored the concerning trend, with a 32 per cent increase in offences showing crimes committed by that cohort were above pre-pandemic levels.

Serious crimes such as assaults and crimes against the person were behind that spike.

There was a 30 per cent rise in the number of crimes against the person committed by 14-17-year-olds.

Those youths also committed 657 more assaults and 856 more burglaries than last year.

Police say wanting to gain notoriety among peers and wanting to own “status items” such as cars and clothes motivated child offenders to commit robberies, burglaries and other theft-related offences.

Children committed more assaults and burglaries in 2023 in comparison to last year.

In particular, 10-13-year-olds were responsible for 102 aggravated burglaries in the past year.

Five years ago, that be group was linked to just 20.

Youths aged between 10 and 17 years old were the alleged offender in 64 per cent of robberies, and the victims were the same age almost 30 per cent of the time.

Victoria Police’s Regional Operations Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson said property crime was “one of the most significant concerns for police” heading into summer.

“Summer is traditionally peak season for home burglaries and as such, we’re urging Victorians to take some simple steps to help stop opportunistic thieves,” he said.

“Our members will continue to patrol known hotspots across Melbourne every evening until dawn as part of Operation Trinity, however the community also has a strong role to play.”

Overall, police recorded the highest number of arrests across all age groups in five years, with 66,129 offenders arrested and charged.

Bail breaches rose by 2,985 to 16,708 offences in the past year.

It comes after the Herald Sun in November that offenders who have been released on bail were committing about 70 crimes every day.