What's driving young New Zealanders to commit offences that involve stalking, threatening, or restricting someone's freedom?

The numbers say something changed. In 2024, 1,245 young people were charged with abduction, harassment and other offences against the person. That's the highest figure in 13 years. You have to go back to 2011 to find anything comparable. (Source: Stats NZ, youth-finalised-charges)

Four years ago, in 2020, the number was 807. By 2022, it had jumped to 1,146. Last year it was 1,206. This year it's 1,245. That's a 54% increase since 2020.

These aren't property crimes or drug offences. This category captures behaviour that directly threatens or controls other people: stalking, harassment, threatening to harm someone, restricting their movement. The kinds of offences that leave victims looking over their shoulders.

The trajectory is almost linear. Each year since 2020 has been worse than the last. Whatever's happening, it's not a blip. It's a trend.

Some of this might be explained by better reporting. Harassment, especially online, has become more visible. Police take stalking complaints more seriously than they did a decade ago. Victims are more likely to come forward. But that doesn't explain the sharpness of the rise, or why it accelerated so dramatically after 2021.

Youth crime statistics are often weaponised. Politicians point to rising numbers as proof the system is broken, or falling numbers as proof their policies work. But this category doesn't fit neatly into either narrative. It's not about ram raids or retail theft. It's about control, intimidation, fear.

And it's not going away. The 2024 figure is only marginally higher than 2023, which suggests we might be plateauing. But we're plateauing at a level 400 charges higher than it was in 2020.

The data doesn't tell us why. It doesn't tell us whether these are repeat offenders or first-timers, whether the offences are happening online or in person, whether they're clustered in certain communities or spread across the country. It just tells us that more young people are being charged with offences that involve threatening, controlling, or restricting other people than at any point in the last 13 years.

That's worth asking questions about. Because 1,245 charges means 1,245 incidents serious enough for police to lay charges. It means victims. It means young offenders who, statistically, are more likely to reoffend if nothing changes. And it means a problem that's grown by more than half in four years, with no sign of reversing.