A prolific group of criminals who are being arrested multiple times a year is driving record-high crime, as alarm bells blare over a rapid shift in violence among youths.

Criminal offences in Victoria surged 15.7 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June 2025, the latest Crime Statistics Agency data shows.

Forty per cent of total crime in the state was attributed to 5400 individuals who were arrested 10 times or more.

About 1100 youths aged 10 to 17 were arrested a combined 7000 times, as Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill declared children with no criminal history were quickly turning to extreme violence.

"This escalation goes from zero to 100 with some of those people," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Some of the people we're arresting for these violent offences, these

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