00:00Flowers laid for Oscar Hamilton, the 16-year-old allegedly stabbed to death in broad daylight
00:07earlier this week.
00:09For youth workers like Ahmed Hassan, who oversaw a campaign to reduce knife crime among young
00:14people, it's an all too familiar outcome.
00:16I've seen the impact of it, I've been to hospital so many times, funerals.
00:21With one life ended and many more forever changed, new figures have put an even greater
00:25spotlight on youth crime in the state.
00:28The Independent Crime Statistics Agency's figures released today are disappointing.
00:33They are disappointing.
00:35Youth crime incidents have jumped 20% in a year, reaching a 14-year high, driven largely
00:41by property and deception offences.
00:44There was an almost 10% jump in overall crime statewide, the highest level on record, not
00:50adjusted for population.
00:52Aggravated home robberies also leapt by 18%, police blaming opportunistic young burglars.
01:00There's no data specific to knives and edged weapons in these statistics, but the opposition
01:04has today said it's going to continue to push for a ban on machetes.
01:09We're seeing more and more footage now of people walking around with machetes that are
01:13not belonging on Melbourne streets, they belong in sugar cane fields up in Queensland.
01:17Retailers would support reforms along those lines.
01:21The police minister wouldn't be drawn on when he expects crime levels to improve.
01:26Crime rates will ebb and flow, but what we need to understand is the work that needs
01:29to be a concerted effort.
01:30I think we can all speak up, we can all be proactive around measures, and we can all
01:35do our bit within our families, within our friendship groups, to say hey, enough is enough.
01:41The state government insisting it's making the right investments to stop young offenders
01:45becoming lifelong criminals.
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