Victoria Police have 138 young gang members on a gang persons of interest register
Specialist detectives tackling youth crime in Melbourne’s suburbs have warned teen gang members: “We’re watching you like hawks”.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Police have 138 young gang members under the microscope in one of Melbourne’s busiest zones for teen crime.
But specialist detectives based in the southern suburbs believe a hardline approach of arresting and charging young gang members is starting to steer them away from crime.
Sen-Sgt David Cox of the southern metro crime team said there were 105 arrests of 67 serious and violent offenders in the first six months of this year.
He warned the 138 on a gang persons of interest register that they were under heavy scrutiny and police would use every measure possible, including spot checks and random bail compliance visits, to keep them in line.
Sen-Sgt Cox said the southern metro office had built an exceptional intelligence and offender management framework.
“We’re watching that group like hawks. We’ve got a greater line of sight than ever on these youths,” Sen-Sgt Cox said.
“They’ve got nowhere to hide. We’re trying to prevent the offences happening in the first place. “
Those being watched have been linked to home invasions, street robberies, car thefts and assaults.
Sen-Sgt Cox’s officers last week arrested a 17-year-old teen over a horrifying public stabbing attack on a 23-year-old man in Buckingham St, Springvale.
Twenty one identified youth gang figures are locked up in youth justice centres and Sen-Sgt Cox said investigators would be monitoring them as soon as they were set free.
“We know the exact dates these people are set to be released,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Cox said groups as high as 20 and as low as three were labelling themselves as gangs in the area.
Members were aged 12 to 18.
Sen-Sgt Cox said holding gang members to account was steering them away from crime.
He said 67 per cent of those arrested in the first six months of this year did not reoffend after their first brush with the law.
Some needed to be brought into the justice system so they could be linked up workers from services including youth justice, child protection, corrections and other community-based bodies.
“If we intervene with our support services and we have active oversight and support from parents, it is a significant factor,” Sen-Sgt Cox said.
“Our focus has got to be on making the kids make better choices … collectively and individually. Some of them see that gang-based activity is not for them. The aim is to prevent further offending.”
But some remained unresponsive in the first half of this year.
Fourteen youths were arrested twice, five on three occasions, two four times and one was detained five times.
Statewide figures show how a relatively small number of youth offenders were committing a huge number of crimes.
Though the rate was down by eight per cent over five years, Victoria Police’s operation Alliance was continuing to arrest high-volume offenders.
In 2021, 512 were arrested for 5300 crimes.
Sen-Sgt Cox said intelligence-sharing between police regions was vital because they were happy to travel to break the law.
“These offenders seem to have no boundaries,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Cox said drugs and alcohol did not appear to be a huge driver for teen lawlessness.
“We’re seeing peer pressure and social media influence. We’re seeing kids who have for various reasons stopped engaging, whether that be with school or other agencies,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Cox said the crime team’s investigators were making huge sacrifices and working massive hours to build the foundations of their battle against gangs.
“Our offender management oversight is exceptional,” he said.
Final moments of slain teen captured on CCTV, police allege
The final moments of Isla Bell’s life were captured on CCTV through the window of her accused killer’s apartment before her body was put in a fridge, police allege.
Four charged after major police sting nets huge cash, meth haul
Four men have been charged after police made a string of arrests among an alleged organised crime syndicate accused of importing liquid methamphetamine to prepare it for sale.