Police cautions reduce reoffending: study

Taking a hard line with young crooks might not be the answer to deterring them from committing further crimes, the results of a new Victorian study suggests.

A comparison of youth offenders who were either charged or cautioned for their offences found the latter were less likely to reoffend when it comes to theft, property damage and assault.

More than a third of cautioned youths reoffended within 12 months of their first recorded offence, compared to almost half of those who were charged, data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency, released on Monday, showed.

Thefts, property damage and assaults were the most common offences committed by young people.

"These results provide evidence for the effectiveness of cautions in responding to youth offending," study author Kimberley Shirley said.

Young people who were cautioned by police reoffended at half the rate of charged people and at a slower rate, the author reported.

The study of 5981 young people found 35.9 per cent of cautioned youths reoffended, compared to 47.8 per cent of those who were charged.