OSLO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- After seven years of decline, youth crime in Norwegian capital Olso increased by over 20 percent in 2016, newspaper Aftenposten reported Friday.
This was shown in a police report on the number of young people under 18 who were suspected of, charged with, or convicted of criminal offenses in 2016.
Last year there were 2,186 offenses registered in this age group, which is 21.9 percent more than those in 2015.
A total of 1,201 young people under 18 were reported due to the breach of the law in 2016, which is 180 more than the year before, or an increase of about 18 percent.
The increase was particularly high among girls. And for both genders, the increase was highest in the age group under 15 years.
Last year, 429 young people under 15 were reported, while there were 320 reported in 2015.
John Roger Lund, chief of the Stovner Police Station in Oslo, confirmed that there was an increase in crime among children and adolescents in 2016.
"There is no doubt that we have received more cases with youth involved," he told Aftenposten.
Lund also believed that a good part of the increase was due to the police's purposeful work towards children and youth.
"The more active the police are among young people, the greater the increase will we get in the number of cases. This is especially true if we go after the youth selling, storing or using drugs," he added.
