Teen gangs rule the streets of Austria at night
In Austria, crime rates among children and adolescents are rising alarmingly, especially among those aged 10 to 14, with the number of reports against them doubling since 2020. Statistics show that about 48% of these offenders are of foreign nationalities.
Andreas Holzer, the head of the Bundeskriminalamt (Federal Criminal Police Office), announced the intensification of efforts to combat youth crime, noting the establishment of a special unit led by Dieter Csefan in March 2024. This unit deals with what are known as 'intensive crime offenders,' who are children that have committed hundreds of crimes before reaching the age of 14, including thefts from cars and ATMs.
In a report by Ö1 radio, teenage girls from the Favoriten area, specifically in Helmut-Zilk-Park, reported that gangs start gathering there after 4 PM. Some of these gangs are considered friendly, while others only come to cause trouble, according to their descriptions. The police often intervene after incidents of violence, but they arrive after the perpetrators have fled.
Commenting on the situation, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner stated that tackling youth crime has become a priority, and Dieter Csefan clarified that the number of "intensive offenders" in Vienna alone exceeds 220, including about 30 to 40 classified as "Systemsprenger," meaning those who have committed more than 50 crimes.
The proposed solutions include close cooperation between schools and authorities, and providing reference figures for behaviorally deviant adolescents. If these measures do not work, closed centers for guidance and rehabilitation should be established, not for imprisonment.
On his part, Christian Reiner from the organization "Rettet das Kind" sees the problem as a collective failure involving parents, schools, and official bodies. He emphasizes that adolescents need positive role models and non-violent experiences that influence them constructively. He opposes the idea of imprisonment, suggesting a model similar to what is implemented in Switzerland, where adolescents live in closed educational facilities resembling housing, not prisons.