ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor recorded a 22 per cent surge in the number of crime-related cases committed by individuals aged below 40 this year, compared to the same period last year, according to State Youth, Sports, Entrepreneurial Development, Cooperatives, and Human Resources Committee chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah (BN-Larkin).
There were 2,402 crime-related cases from the beginning of this year until October, compared to 1,970 in the same period last year.
The crimes were committed by individuals aged between 15 and 40, classified as youths in Malaysia.
Johor police's statistics revealed an increase of 862 theft-related cases, 692 sexual offences, vandalism (239 cases), robbery (166 cases), gangsterism/secret societies (10 cases), and five bullying cases, committed by individuals aged below 40.
An alarming rising trend was illegal racing, which recorded a hike of 421 cases between January and October this year, compared to 270 during the same period last year. Drug-related and alcohol consumption offences among the age group also recorded a hike, with a 17.21 per cent and 4.68 per cent surge, respectively.
To combat the surge trend, Mohd Hairi emphasised the need for concerted efforts from governmental departments. "Several initiatives, including Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) social intervention programs, were organised. This year, 71 youth-related programmes were conducted, involving more than 30,000 participants," he said.
He addressed these points while responding to a question posed by Marina Ibrahim (DAP-Skudai) during the 15th Johor State Assembly held at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar, near here, today.