FAMILY violence reports in Melton have more than tripled in one year, new crime data reveals.
From July 2011 to June 2012, 491 family violence assaults were recorded, compared to 143 from July 2010 to June 2011.
The release of the data comes as a dedicated family violence officer begins work in Melton.
As reported by the Weekly, a women’s support group hopes the addition will give victims the confidence to speak out.
Women’s Health West family violence outreach co-ordinator Jelena Djurdjevic said she dealt with more than 1000 cases of domestic violence in Brimbank and Melton every year. There had been a 50 per cent increase in the rate of family violence in the west over the past year.
Acting sergeant and family violence unit leader Chris Hughes said he was confident the specialised family violence unit would have an impact.
“Our primary focus at this stage will be on identifying and addressing high-risk and recidivist family violence cases, with the aim of reducing and eliminating the cycle of family violence,” he said. “We will work closely with welfare and support agencies to assist repeat victims and, in turn, will target the criminal behaviour of recidivist family violence offenders where appropriate.”
Data released last week also showed theft from motor vehicles rose by 34 per cent from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
Melton’s Inspector Mario Fiorentino said reducing these figures remained a priority.
“Theft of vehicles and from them is still of concern with owners failing to lock their door and remove valuables from sight,” he said.
“There is a misconception that these types of offences occur only in car parks at railway stations and shopping centres. Our data tells us most offences occur in residential areas, predominantly in driveways or out the front of homes. Complacency has made it very easy for thieves to access vehicles and property.”
Inspector Fiorentino said cars and trailers owned by tradespeople were also being targeted, with large numbers of power tools stolen.
