During the past five years assaults have jumped by 50.6 per cent (79 cases to 119), theft offences by 19.3 per cent (166 to 198) and malicious damage by 39.5 per cent (43 to 60).

The number of robberies committed by a juvenile also jumped in Wollongong. In 2019 there were 1-4 robberies (when data is low it is shown in this band), but five years later 12 children stand accused of a robbery.

Woolworths stores across the Illawarra are often a target for young thieves, with a security guard installed at the Shell Cove outlet and repeat juvenile offenders barred in March 2023.

The Mercury has witnessed a boy run out of Dapto Woolworths with stolen items, while Bulli Woolworths is also a target for juvenile theft incidents.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said there had been no notable increases in theft in the Illawarra.

"We have a number of initiatives that we use, both covert and overt, to help reduce retail crime," she said. "These initiatives include the use of camera technology at the checkouts, double welcome gates, CCTV and a trial of gates at the exit to our self-serve checkout area.

"The majority of our customers do the right thing and treat our team with respect, and we thank them for doing so."

Crime data also shows, juveniles did not commit a murder during 2019 in the Illawarra. In 2023 data had risen to 1-4 as a teen faced court charged with murdering Warrawong mother-of-two Kristie Mcbride.

Weapons offences fell 34.6 per cent in Kiama (26 to 17) and 25.8 per cent in Shellharbour (163 to 121), but they increased slightly in Wollongong from seven cases to 11, data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows.

In Wollongong drug offences dropped by 34.5 per cent (58 to 38), in Shellharbour they fell by 52.6 per cent (19 to nine), and in Kiama there were zero cases last year compared to 1-4 cases in 2019.

Already this year two girls, aged 14 and 15, were caught after breaking into an Albion Park Cafe; while police are still chasing three female teens accused of a brazen daylight theft in a Dapto computer store.

The Dapto staffer who was allegedly kicked, pushed and verbally abused by the teens during the incident told the Mercury on March 12 she's now scared.

"I couldn't sleep last night, I don't feel safe anymore," she said.