More than 1,200 Oslo youth below 18 years of age were reviewed for criminal offenses last year. That is almost 20 percent more than the year before, according to the newspaper Aftenposten.
Numbers the newspaper has acquired shows that all in all 2,186 crimes are registered in this age group last year, an increase of almost 22 percent compared to 2015.
The figures are taken from the so-called Salto report which will be submitted in May.
The increase occurs after seven years of decline in the number of registered juvenile crime in Oslo. It is particularly high among girls: In 2016 it was registered 454 offenses where girls are suspected or indicted, against 289 years before.
Also there is an increase in offenses relating to young less than 15 years of age: 429 in 2016 to 320 years before.
The increase does however not worry head of the Salto secretariat in Oslo, Ove Kristofersen.
– It is neither unexpected nor very disturbing. We were expecting an increase for several years. The figures on crime should not be too low, as that could indicate that people do not dare to report, Kristofersen tells Aftenposten.
But it would be cause for concern if the increase continues over several years, he said.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
