CHILDREN as young as 12 have been put at risk by a “dangerous” joyriding trend that has swept Jersey, with young Islanders responsible for 80% of offences last year.
Police chief Robin Smith said that 24 of the 30 people arrested for joyriding in 2025 were juveniles.
It comes after an “opportunistic” group of young people took a blue Audi and a silver Honda Jazz from the home of an elderly couple on New Year’s Eve. Both cars have since been recovered and forensic examination is under way.
Last year, States police reported a 25% increase in cases of “taking and driving away” – the official term for “joyriding”, which distinguishes it from “larceny” or a permanent theft.
Mr Smith said that those involved are generally aged between 14 and 16 years old, although passengers of joyriding offences have been as young as 12.
“The question is how do you deal with young people who do not get a sense of consequences or deterrent?” he asked.
“There are 18,000 youths in Jersey. The vast majority of them never find themselves in trouble. There are around 10 to 20 who commit crimes.
“What they do is generate an enormous cost to the Island in terms of the investigation, police officers and police staff, forensic examinations, preparing a file of evidence, social workers, and health colleagues.”
Mr Smith said that the “trends” within youth crime change regularly, but noted that joyriding was a “particularly dangerous one”.
“We’ve got this current group who have decided they have greater interest or fascination in this [joyriding],” he explained.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you asked me this question, in six months’ time, and there’ll be a different trend.
“But this trend is a particularly dangerous one, for themselves and others.”
This year, the States police plan to increase enforcement, and work alongside law officers, probation services, and other government agencies to address the root cause of youth crime and young people reoffending.
Part of this will be calculating the total financial impact of repeat youth offending, and reviewing current deterrents and consequences to see if they are appropriate.
“The main driver to change will be a recognition that we need to keep children safe,” explained Mr Smith.
“The best way we keep children safe with taking and driving away is locking our cars and taking the keys.
“The goal is to keep young people out of the criminal justice system where possible.”
The “good news”, he added, was that there had been no taking and driving away offences reported so far in 2026 – but urged Islanders to lock their cars.
Mr Smith said: “We are a very, very safe Island. That’s not in dispute. We have approximately 3,000 crimes a year.
“The greatest threat to Jersey in terms of its future safety, as I’ve said repeatedly, is complacency.
“And I wonder, particularly with joyriders, if we’ve become so complacent as an Island that we feel the need to leave keys in cars or try to hide keys in cars, which are easy to find.
“The majority of taking and driving away offences are as a result of young people, and they are as a result of insecure cars, where keys are left nearby or in the car.”
