Melbourne girl gangs swarming helpless victims to steal phones
“Opportunistic” groups of girls are banding together in a terrifying new crime wave to target vulnerable people in a bid to steal the latest mobile phones.
Police & Courts
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Girl gangs are “swarming” pedestrians to steal new mobile phones in a terrifying new Melbourne crimewave.
The female teens are banding together to target vulnerable people in quiet lanes and subways near train stations and bus stops in daytime.
They are most active in the city’s southeastern suburbs.
The “opportunistic” groups of up to six girls are after the latest phones, says Superintendent Paul Hollowood of Southern Metro police region.
“They sight a victim and approach them. Youths are being preyed on the most,” he said.
“Recently, offenders stole a phone, but when they found out it was a Galaxy rather than the latest iPhone they threw it away,” Supt Hollowood said.
“These criminals are a little discerning in what they are stealing.”
Swarming has usually involved large groups of young men raiding electronics stores for phones, laptops, tablets and headphones.
Attacks on stores such as JB Hi Fi and Officeworks had become a widely reported issue, with staff often powerless to stop the groups.
But since stores have implemented tighter security around stock, the thieves have been pushed on to the streets.
Male youths are still involved in swarming attacks on pedestrians, but the girl gangs are increasingly active.
“We are starting to see groups of girls involved, and this is an area of concern,” Supt Hollowood said.
In the Casey municipality, which covers Cranbourne, Hampton Park, Narre Warren and Hallam, a staggering 3100 street robberies were recorded in the year to last September, a rise of almost 20 per cent on the previous year.
“The offending is not planned, it tends to be opportunistic. It is basically the ability to do it simply because it is there,” said Supt Hollowood.
The terrifying robberies often spiked after the release of a new iPhone model, he added.
The gangs pocketed the stolen phones and other goods or sold them on social media.
Police are cracking down on the new crimewave through Operational Tidal, focusing on youth offending in the southeastern suburbs.
It has led to more than 220 arrests and 70 warrants executed since January 1, with more than 1000 arrests since the operation began in April last year.
The Herald Sun has previously reported that girls as young as 12 have been recruited by female gangs.
According to Crime Statistics Agency data for the year to September, girls were responsible for a quarter of offences committed by those aged 10 to 17.
The number of individual offences committed by females in the year to September rose from 4488 (2018) to 5211 (2019).
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