By Ewen McRae
Crime across Melton has risen again according to the latest data.
Latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency showed a 13.1 per cent rise in overall criminal incidences in Melton for the year to December 2019, with theft and criminal damage offences leading the way.
Melton (1506 offences) and Melton South (1431) were the hardest hit suburbs, however third placed Melton West (1405) saw a drop in offending.
Melton local area commander Zorka Dunstan said the data was a reflection of a statewide trend.
“It’s happening everywhere, we’ve seen an increase in crime across the state,” Ms Dunstan said.
“We’re seeing a lot more people reporting theft through our online portal than we used to, so part of the rise is down to that, and we are definitely detecting more drug offences, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it means we’re making more arrests as well.
“We also find that assault and theft offences often go hand in hand, and we’ve seen a slow increase in robberies that we’ve dedicated operations towards to try and nip that in the bud.”
According to the data, an offence was nearly three times more likely to occur in a house than on the street, while sexual offences recorded their lowest numbers since 2017.
ms Dunstan said growth in the region, as well as changing demographics played a part in offending as well.
“We see with the rising cost of housing in places like Brimbank are pushing people into these areas and growth is always a consideration with our resourcing,” she said.
“We’re always having to be smart with our resources and making sure we are as efficient as possible.”
Ms Dunstan said recent operations targeting thefts at gyms as well as another focusing on liquor theft had yielded positive results.
For Moorabool, criminal offences for the December 2019 year were down 9.2 per cent.
Bacchus Marsh was the hardest hit area with 570 offences, however that was an improvement on the previous year.
Darley, Ballan and Maddingley also recorded lower crime than the previous year.
