By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
NEW crime figures have revealed 10-year-olds are among the culprits committing violent and brazen home invasions throughout Casey and affluent inner city suburbs.
For more than eight months, sleeping families have been falling victim to baby-faced thieves.
Statistics paint a shocking spike in teen and tween acts of theft, assault and burglary across the south-east.
Last year’s figures reveal offenders aged 10 to 14 committed more than double the number of burglaries and break-ins, compared to 2014.
Youth and adult counsellor at Merinda Park Learning and Community Centre, Emma, said she couldn’t put the surge in crime down to one thing.
“The sense of disengagement that youth feel can lead to behaviours that might seem bizarre, but make perfect sense to them in that moment,” Emma said.
“It comes down to the context that they are living in, such as family breakdown.
“They may have experienced poverty or exposure to violence and crime, social isolation and poor relationships with significant adults or may not feel engaged with different institutions.”
The alarming increase in crime in primary aged students and tweens has been well documented in recent months, as Dandenong’s Apex Gang made headlines at Moomba after they were embroiled in a brawl in Melbourne’s CBD.
Several arrests followed the incident, but local police continue to battle the youth crime epidemic in the south east.
According to the latest Crime Statistics Agency figures, offences committed by 10 to 14-year-olds jumped from 101 to 167 in Greater Dandenong last year – a 66 per cent rise.
Dandenong Inspector Bruce Kitchen partly attributed the 18 per cent rise in offences in Dandenong by 10 to 19-year-olds to the car-thieving Apex Gang.
“But it is not necessarily all to do with that particular young group,” Insp Kitchen said.
“The real concern is if the home-owner goes downstairs to get a drink of water and is confronted by (burglars), then anything can happen.”
Insp Kitchen pointed to the “ice epidemic” and more “kids” wandering at night to the spike in thefts.
“Ice remains a problem for us,” he said.
Casey home invasions committed by youths aged 15 to 19 was also up 24 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year and Detective Sergeant Ivan Bobetic, from the Dandenong Embona Taskforce said such offences had been ongoing for two years.
“The level of violence and lack of contrition is alarming for their ages – it seems they have no concept of what they are doing, conscience for the victims or they simply don’t care,” Det Sgt Bobetic said.
The stats showed the majority of robberies committed in Casey in 2015 were by offenders aged 15 to 19, with the number of youthful thieves tripling since 2014.
Assault and related offences by youths in Casey has also surged in the past two years with a jump of 11 per cent in the age category 20 to 24, but local youth counsellor, Emma said the media played a part in the problem.
“Things kids want are very visible and seem accessible, they see media figures they admire with things they want.
“And it seems not very accessible to them if their future looks bleak, or if they’re not doing well at school, they choose to find a different way to attain these things which can lead to crime.”
“Crime is presented in the media constantly and in some cases they don’t get a jail sentence or any form of penalty. So the excessive reporting of the crimes and poor outcomes are presented as an opportunity – when the ways are blocked for your future, you start narrowing that pathway.”
But a positive Emma said the stats meant one thing: “We need to be more pro-active to help youth make better decisions.”
