There is a growing consensus that the Northern Territory is experiencing a spike in youth crime - and politicians are starting to take notice.

There have been weekly reports of shocking crimes committed by young people, especially in Alice Springs, Palmerston and Darwin.

Last month in Alice Springs, an 87-year-old woman was robbed and attacked with a golf club in her bedroom.

It was the second time she had been robbed in seven days.

Police have arrested three 15-year-old boys suspected to have been involved, and are seeking others.

In Palmerston, a 12-year-old boy was tasered by police after he and his mates allegedly stole a car and took it for a joyride.

In the Darwin suburb of Wulagi, teenagers were rounded up by police with dogs after they allegedly trashed a school.

Six of the seven children arrested collectively had more than 300 involvements with police in the past.

Teenagers were rounded up after Wulagi Primary School in Darwin was vandalised in January. ( ABC News: Dijana Damjanovic )

Although statistics that could confirm the recent jump in youth crime have not yet been made available, NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw recently revealed the number of youth offences had increased in the past six months.

Reece Kershaw says December and January were disappointing months for police. ( ABC News: Xavier La Canna )

"In particular December and January were quite disappointing months for us, and a lot of that has been put down to also school holidays playing a role," he said last month.

"It is an increase from the previous years."

Figures obtained by the ABC showed that during the first two months of this year, there were 449 lodgements made in the NT youth courts, compared to 383 in the first two months of 2016.

Lodgements are new court files, and a rise indicates more matters going before court, although the figures do not directly reflect the crime rate because they exclude crimes where nobody was apprehended.

If the youth crime rate is spiking, what could be causing it?

Weak penalties?

Several groups have formed on social media to discuss crime in parts of the Northern Territory. A common point of discussion is that penalties are not strong enough.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics regularly show that the NT has a higher youth offender rate than Australia as a whole, with the gap widening in recent years.

There have also been community concerns that the number of teen offenders in detention has dropped after the ABC first aired evidence of mistreatment of youths in the Don Dale Detention Centre.

NT Chief Justice Michael Grant recently issued a 10-page statement that said a general assertion that sentences imposed by youth offenders was too lenient was "both uninformed and unhelpful".

He said the Youth Justice Act directed courts to impose a sentence of detention or imprisonment on a young person as a last resort, and only if there was no appropriate alternative.

"The number of youths in detention following sentence as at December 2016 was greater than or practically equal to the numbers through the period from January to October 2015," Justice Grant said.

Drug and alcohol abuse

A public meeting in Palmerston heard use of the drug ice - crystal methamphetamine - was making matters worse.

"At the moment we've got people being broken into by kids on ice with knives," one woman told the forum.

Figures on drug offences are not regularly released by police, and ABS figures released annually showed that in the NT, illicit drug offences had been generally trending down since hitting a high in 2011/12.

There have been fears that not enough is being done to curtail the flow of the drug ice. ( ABC News Breakfast )

A report issued to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory that is underway said up to 23 per cent of those in correction and forensic settings had Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a condition caused by women who drink too much alcohol during pregnancy.

"Children with FASD often exhibit multiple low-grade offences and their offences often do not make sense, such as stealing an item of little value, or engaging in crime when likelihood of being detected is high," the report said.

Wet weather

Detective Superintendent Michael White, who investigates crime in the southern region of the NT, which includes Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, said weather could be a factor.

"We have had a significant amount of wet season weather in Central Australia this year that has seen a number of communities closed off," he said.

Alice Springs experienced heavy rain early this year. ( Supplied: Facebook )

"People have been in town in Alice Springs for a longer period than they might otherwise be, that has probably had some impact.

"The other impact is really just a number of recidivist offenders who had previously been in custody also out and about after finishing their detention time."

Detective Superintendent White also said figures for unlawful entries in recent years had been relatively low, meaning the recent uptick was coming off a low base.

How can crime be tackled?

There have been calls for more young offenders to go to jail, or boot camps, or for kids to be publicly humiliated.

Last month, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner admitted something needed to be done.

"We feel and share the frustration, anger, a lot [of people] in the Territory have at the moment with the recent spate of crime that is occurring," he said.

He promised to have authorities focus on early intervention and prevention and wants to give police powers to ensure people given bail can have electronic monitors fitted, without having to first go before the courts.

"If you are caught having committed a crime and you go before a court you should serve time and while you are serving time we should be doing everything we can to make sure we are breaking the cycle," Mr Gunner said.

Boot camps and victim conferencing in the NT are to be introduced or expanded under a recent plan.

'Don't treat child criminals like adult offenders'

Taskforce Sonoma, a police taskforce that tackles youth crime has recently had its numbers boosted.

As well as extra officers on the ground, there will be 12 "youth engagement and diversion officers" that will aim to focus on children at risk of offending.

Mr Gunner said action needed to be taken, but simply locking children away was not the answer.

"If you treat a kid as an adult offender, they will become an adult offender," he said.