"Only about 20 per cent of the offenders end up in Youth Court, with the other 80 per cent being dealt with via way of warnings, alternative actions [and] restorative justice meetings.
"The offending in Rotorua is not widespread and most youths who offend do not come back to police attention. However, we do have a small hardcore group that do a large amount of offending and offences."
The Rotorua Neighbourhood Policing Team had a programme where offenders were held accountable by mowing lawns in the area in which they had offended, Mr Van Den Broek said. The most common youth offending related to dishonesty and violence, although there had been an increase in bullying on social media.
Nationally, 3015 Youth Court appearances were recorded last year, resulting in 198 convictions. The Ministry of Justice figures confirm the number of Youth Court appearances has been falling across the country in recent years.
There were 3579 Youth Court appearances nationwide in 2011, also down from 3942 in 2010.
The majority of appearances last year were by males between the ages of 14 and 16 (2430), but 564 females also appeared.
District Courts general manager Tony Fisher said a number of outcomes might occur after a child or young person appeared in the Youth Court and admitted to the charge or had the case against them proven.
Under the least serious outcome, police could decide not to take the case any further.
At the most serious end of the scale, the youth's case could be moved to the District Court for sentencing.
Other possible outcomes included a conditional discharge. where the youth was let off unless they broke the law again within a certain time, reparation, alcohol or drug rehabilitation, community work, or the child could be placed under the care of Child, Youth and Family.
