Fewer robberies in Sardinia, more extortion in Cagliari: youth crime data
Save the Children's report on crimes committed by adolescents on the islandPer restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
Fewer serious crimes committed by minors in Sardinia, such as murder and robbery. But extortion is on the rise. This trend emerges from the analysis contained in the report "(Dis)armed. An investigation into the prevalence of youth violence, between perception and reality," conducted by Save the Children's Research Center with the support of the Iris Ceramica Group ETS Foundation. The picture is complex: on the one hand, it captures changes in the intensity and patterns of violence among adolescents, whether alone or in groups; on the other, it highlights the increase in the length of time minors remain in the juvenile justice system, partly following the implementation of the Caivano Decree.
In Cagliari, the number of minors reported for extortion has increased, from 3 in 2014 to 6 in 2024, and 0 in the first half of 2025. However, in this case, the report of 14 very young people in early 2026 is recent. The number of those reported for carrying weapons has remained unchanged (equal to 8 in 2024, as in 2014; 6 in the first half of 2025). The number of minors reported for robberies has decreased (from 8 in 2014 to 3 in 2024; 5 in the first half of 2025), but here too, the research is suffering from the burden of the mandate to update to 2026.
In Sardinia, between 2014 and 2015, the incidence of minors reported for robbery (-0.12 per thousand inhabitants in the same age group), possession of weapons (-0.01 per thousand), criminal association (-0.07 per thousand) and homicide (-0.16 per thousand) decreased, while the incidence of minors reported for the crime of personal injury increased (+0.35 per thousand inhabitants between 14 and 17 years of age).
On the island, the incidence of 14-17 year-olds reported or arrested for criminal conspiracy is 0.06 per thousand inhabitants in the same age group, among the highest in Italy, and for mafia-type conspiracy it is 0.02 per thousand. The incidence of 14-17 year-olds reported or arrested for personal injury is 1.02 per thousand inhabitants in the same age group, and for extortion it is 0.09 per thousand.
(Unioneonline)
