Karl Stefanovic has expressed serious concern that Australia’s juvenile delinquency wave is worsening.
The Today show host revealed that young people were caught on CCTV ‘doing things’ at his childhood home on Sydney’s north coast, which he shares with his wife Jasmine and their three-year-old daughter Harper.
Neighborhoods in Melbourne have resorted to pooling their money to pay for 24/7 private security patrols in a desperate bid to keep their homes and families safe.
It comes as homicide detectives launched a manhunt after a teenage boy was stabbed to death in St Albans in the city’s northwest on Monday night.
Elsewhere, three youths have been charged in a series of armed robberies involving Facebook Marketplace in Queensland.
Stefanovic urged authorities to do more to tackle the youth crime epidemic and became agitated when he spoke out again Tuesday morning.
He recounted his own terrifying experience while interviewing private security expert Anthony Schaepman about Melbourne’s crime spree.
Karl Stefanovic (pictured with wife Jasmine) has revealed that his childhood home has been targeted by juvenile delinquents
“Enough is enough,” said the father of four.
“This happened to me, happened to my family. “I’ve had kids come to my house to do things. I have them on tape. I know who they are.
“I have to decide what to do with it. If I didn’t have that vision, I wouldn’t know what to do, and this would keep happening because the police can’t be everywhere at once. They are only relatively minor offences.’
“But if it gets to that level for me, then it gets to that level for me. It reaches that level across the country. We have to keep talking about it and keep saying we have to do something about it, nothing is happening.’
Pictured is Karl Stefanovic’s holiday home in Noosa. The TV star also owns a property in North Sydney
He fears that juvenile delinquency will get worse as he lays out the huge impact it has on families.
“Whenever crime comes to the door, when someone breaks into their car, when something happens close to home, it has a huge psychological impact,” Stefanovic said.
‘That’s the problem here. If people go to you, you run the risk of vigilante activity going on out there. That is my great concern, that is the great concern of many authorities in different states.”
A teenage boy was found lying on a street in Melbourne’s St Albans on Monday night after being stabbed. He died on the way to the hospital
“I don’t understand how the authorities can’t see the big impact this has on people’s daily lives, law-abiding citizens at home.
It won’t stop and that’s the problem. Getting worse.’
Stefanovic also spoke out on the issue in Queensland, where three teenagers aged 15-17 have been charged with 31 offenses in a series of armed robberies involving Facebook Marketplace in the south east of the state.
The Queensland Government recently pledged a funding package worth more than $3 million to combat the scourge of juvenile delinquency.
“It’s a huge problem,” Stefanovic said.
“These people come to people’s homes. They say they’re going to buy something, then they’re going to buy something and then they get robbed.’
Karl Stefanovic spoke out on the juvenile crime crisis after a teenager was stabbed to death overnight in Melbourne (pictured, police on scene in St Albans)
Stefanovic was stunned to learn that families are paying thousands for private security in Melbourne.
‘Unfortunately, crime occurs every day,’ explains Schaepman.
“We have the police resources that are currently in play. They do brilliant work. At the end of the day, unfortunately, crime is on the rise, so people are currently trying their hardest with alternative methods.
Stefanovic has spoken out on juvenile delinquency before and recently broke down while discussing possible solutions with former Australian Law Council director Bill Potts during an emotional interview.
“I’m a parent, and if I saw it… and it happened to my kid… I’d want to lock that up forever, whoever it was at best,” Stefanovic said.