The crime rate in Melton has dropped significantly in the year to December 2021, according to data released last week.
The Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released the Victorian crime statistics for the year ending December 31 last week, revealing a 15 per cent decrease in Melton.
According to the data, 12,124 offences were recorded in the Melton local government area in the year to December, compared with 14,367 in 2020.
Melton recorded a slight 0.5 decrease in family violence (FV) incidents in the past year, which was inconsistent with the rest of the state. Victoria recorded an overall 4.3 per cent increase in FV offences.
The suburb of Melton was the municipality’s most crime prone area with 4214 offences, ahead of Melton (2677) and Caroline Springs (1945).
CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said the changing dynamic of COVID-19 restrictions had affected the numbers.
”As COVID-19-related health responses and restrictions have evolved there have continued to be fewer Breaches CHO directions offences recorded in the past 12 months” Ms Dowsley said.
Victoria Police deputy commissioner Rich Nugent said it was pleasing to see the crime rate trend down.
“While the highly unique environment in Victoria last year clearly contributed to the overall decrease in crime, it was incredibly positive to see a reduction in serious offences which impact the community such as home burglaries, robberies and car thefts,” Mr Nugent said.
“It has also been encouraging that the number of first-time offenders across all crime categories has remained consistent with the previous two years. We are particularly pleased that first time youth offenders decreased 7.6% in the last year, contributing to a reduction of 35.8% over ten years.”
The state also recorded a 1.5 per cent decrease in family incidents, the first such decrease since 2017.
