‘We know the footage is out there’: Crime Stoppers chief executive Stella Smith on Share If You Care campaign

Young people are being urged to anonymously report their friends under a new campaign aimed at cracking down on Victoria’s youth crime crisis.

Teenagers are being urged to dob in their mates who brag and post online about committing violent crimes, in a desperate bid to thwart Victoria’s growing youth crime crisis.

A sharp rise in offences has prompted authorities to call for young people to anonymously report footage of offending.

Videos of random attacks on innocent people, violent robberies and vicious fights at schools are among the content most concerning to police.

The plea for help comes amid recent debate surrounding the state’s youth bail laws, fuelled by the death of 28-year-old William Taylor, who was killed last week when he was hit by a stolen car allegedly driven by a group of teenagers.

William Taylor, 28, was killed in a crash last week.

Crime Stoppers chief executive Stella Smith told the Herald Sun the organisation’s anonymous online reporting system meant young people did not have to worry about potential retaliation from those they knew, including offenders with gang links.

“ ‘Snitches get stitches’ has been a great narrative for criminals and perpetrators but not for the victim,” Ms Smith said.

“They’re encouraged to stay quiet, they’re too scared to speak up sometimes.

“But what we’re saying is you can have a voice, all young people can come forward with that information, you’ve got somewhere to go, and we don’t need to know who you are.”

The plea for help comes amid recent debate surrounding the state’s youth bail laws.

Ms Smith said the push for teens to help police track young criminals’ digital footprints followed a series of incidents in which offenders had posted shocking attacks online or were filmed committing them.

In one case, a 14-year-old boy in state care filmed himself in the passenger seat of a stolen car as a group of youths mowed down two cyclists along Beach Rd in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs in January.

In another, three teens posted a video of themselves pushing a 79-year-old man off a Mornington pier.

As well, teenagers as young as 13 have also filmed themselves driving stolen luxury cars such as BMWs and Mercedes. Others have created social media pages dedicated to posting assaults and brawls.

Minister Colin Brooks backed the new Crime Stoppers campaign on Tuesday, encouraging Victorians to dob in offenders.

But the minister was more focused on the role of the courts ahead of tomorrow’s cabinet meeting to discuss the state’s youth crime crisis, saying magistrates must “explain their decisions to the community”.

“The community expects politicians, their elected representatives, to explain the decisions that we’re making. They see the police doing a really good job,” he said.

“Victorians understand that the courts have a difficult and complex job but they’d like to understand how they come to a decision.”

Minister Colin Brooks backed the new campaign, but additionally put pressure on the courts to ‘explain their decisions to the community’. Picture: Graham Denholm

His comments come days after Police Minister Anthony Carbines cast doubt over whether magistrates were meeting community expectations.

“It is incumbent on the courts to make sure that repeat serious offenders who are on bail, have that bail revoked,” he said on Thursday.

“That is the expectation of the government, the parliament and the people of Victoria.”

The comments were then subsequently walked back by Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who said Victoria has some of the “strictest bail conditions in the nation”.

Mr Brooks said Mr Carbines and Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes would be meeting with a range of stakeholders, Victoria Police and legal experts on Wednesday to discuss solutions to the state’s youth crime scourge.

Launching the Share If You Care campaign, Ms Smith said most young people wanted to help keep their friends and family safe from violent crime.

“We know the footage is out there,” she said.

“If we can get more reporting from young people, then that’s a great outcome for the community.”

The latest crime data shows crimes involving children aged from 10 and 17 has soared to their highest levels since 2010, with more than a third of young criminals in that age group now repeat offenders.

Mr Taylor’s death in Burwood came just a day after police launched a new taskforce dedicated to monitoring Victoria’s worst young offenders around the clock.

The Allan government is expected to hold crisis talks on Wednesday to address growing community anger over teens being repeatedly bailed after committing violent crimes.