AN 11-year-old girl faces four robbery charges as a special taskforce charged with reducing juvenile property crime continues to round up offenders.

Since Operation Colossal started seven months ago, 313 offenders have been charged with a total of 15,404 charges.

In January, there were 38 arrests.

Two boys, aged 14 and 15, were the latest juveniles to be caught over a burglary and vehicle theft from a Capricorn St, Bentley Park, home on Sunday night.

It’s alleged the pair broke into a vehicle parked in the front yard of the home and stole property from the car including the keys to a second car which was parked in an adjacent garage.

They then stole the vehicle which was later involved in a single-vehicle crash at Earlville.

However, Det Sgt Brendon Skerke said vehicle thefts were down on last year.

"We’ve seen a reduction in this trend mainly because the ringleaders, of between 10 to 12, of this type of criminal offence are in custody," Det Sgt Skerke said.

"As a whole the operation has been successful in cleaning up a significant number of juvenile property and vehicle crimes. This week alone, an additional three offenders have been caught and face a total of 46 charges.

"Some of them are repeat offenders but at the moment many of them seem to be in custody. However, they’re being replaced with fresh offenders.

"Unfortunately, for every offender we put away there will be a few more that come to light.

"Detectives arrested one guy on eight stolen vehicle charges and we’re talking about high valued cars. One car was valued at $60,000.

"But generally these kids tend to target smaller items that they can put their backpacks and sell off to their mates, such as coins, iPods or mobile phones.’’

Det Sgt Skerke said residents should always lock up homes and vehicles to deter break-ins.

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