By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Youth crime is down in the City of Casey, along with the rest of the state, latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) show.
There were 231 first-time offenders between the ages of 10 and 17 in the City of Casey during the 2016 calendar year, compared to 343 in the 2012 calendar year.
The statistics show that year on year there are has been a decrease in the number of young first-time offenders in the City of Casey.
There were 21 fewer young offenders in 2013 compared to 2012, 82 fewer in 2014 compared to 2013 and one fewer in 2015 compared to 2014.
The trend in Casey follows a wider trend in Victoria that has seen a 10 percent decrease in youth crime in the last decade.
The research found that 56 per cent of young offenders committed at least one offence with another person in 2016, down from 63 per cent in 2007.
Crime Statistics Agency Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said young people were more likely to commit a crime when in the presence of someone else as opposed to acting alone.
‘More than half (56 per cent) of all young offenders committed at least one crime in the company of others, compared to 30 per cent of offenders aged 18 to 24,” she said.
“Our research shows that the crime type most likely to be committed in company is robbery.
“Young people were less likely to commit serious assaults and motor vehicle thefts in company, and co-offending for these crimes have both decreased compared to 2007.”
Specific types of crimes committed by young people have also shown downward trends.
The CSA statistics show that the number of first-time young offenders committing crimes against the person remained stable over time but property and deception offences decreased by an average of nearly nine per cent per year.
Ms Dowsley said the decrease in property offices is driven by less shoplifting among young people.
“The decrease in recorded property offences committed by young people was driven by a drop in retail theft offences,” she said.
“We’ve also seen a reduction in the number of young people committing serious assaults in the last five years, and this reflects the broader trends highlighted in our quarterly crime statistics.”
