‘They don’t fear authority, they seek notoriety’: Melbourne police arrest FORTY youths after a spate of violent robberies and invasions across the city
- Forty young thugs arrested in sweeping police raid in Melbourne and Geelong
- Teenagers as young as 15 have allegedly been involved in high-impact crimes
- Home invasion, affray, burglary, robbery and theft listed as some of the crimes
- Police revealed many were committing crimes for the social recognition
Forty youths have been charged across Melbourne in a citywide police sting amid an ‘unheard of’ wave of violent robberies and home invasions.
Police arrested teenagers as young as 15 during a series of raids across Melbourne and Geelong on Monday.
Among the list of alleged offences were home invasion, affray, burglary, robbery, theft, vehicle crime, outstanding warrants and failing to appear at court.
Forty young thugs have been charged in a citywide police sting amid an ‘unheard of’ wave of youth robberies and home invasions
Youth crime hotspots included Melbourne suburbs such as Cranbourne, Dandenong, Reservoir, Sunshine and Truganina
Youth crime hotspots included Melbourne suburbs such as Cranbourne, Dandenong, Reservoir, Sunshine and Truganina.
North West Metro Region Commander Tim Hansen told Daily Telegraph many of the teenagers were becoming involved in high impact crime for the social recognition.
‘They are very well networked over social media and very well planned to strike and cause the most harm when they can.’
‘They have little fear of authority, little fear of the repercussions of their offending — this is very new in criminal offending.
‘These youths are different because they go from having no criminal record to committing high-harm crimes,’ commander Hansen said.
Police said crime trends had shifted away from home invasions to carjackings, blaming the movement on the rise of youth gangs in the city.
Many of the young people arrested are understood to be linked to gangs and were a mix of caucasian, African and Asian.
Police described them as some of the ‘most active and dangerous’ youths walking the streets.
The mass arrest was part of the larger Operation Liege, which is a cross-border police effort intent on cracking down on individual offenders.
Police can access information such as the name of the offender and their associated crimes
Police are able to access information such as the name and crimes associated with the young offender.
Among the notable changes in crime trends was carjackings and rampage swarming in the area, which have become increasingly linked with gang activity