THE Victorian Crime Statistics Agency has released the latest crime figures for the last 12 months to June 30, 2020, revealing Greater Shepparton saw a 2.3 percent increase in total criminal incidents for the same period last year.
The figures place local crime rates ahead of the statewide average, with Greater Shepparton the fifth-worst Local Government Area for criminal incidents per 100,000 population.
The City of Melbourne claimed honours for the worst crime rate, followed by the City of La Trobe, City of Yarra, and Mildura Rural City.
Of the towns in our region, Shepparton saw the biggest increase in criminal incidents with 4401 recorded, up three percent on last year. Mooroopna saw a slight drop to 774 criminal incidents, down three percent from 2019.
The top five principle offence subgroups in Greater Shepparton included:
- Steal from a motor vehicle, 616 incidents, up 22 percent from 2019
- Criminal damage, 570 incidents, down four percent from 2019
- Breach family violence order, 559 incidents, up one percent from 2019
- Breach bail conditions, 430 incidents, up 30 percent from 2019
- Other theft, 427 incidents, up four percent from 2019
Greater Shepparton Police Service Area Commander, Acting Inspector Dean Williams, said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could live in an environment where we did not have to lock our vehicles or homes, however the stark reality is you should lock them.”
Insp Williams described a five percent drop in reported family incidents as encouraging.
“However together we still have much work to do; so, if exposed to family violence please come forward. As a community we can work with perpetrators and affected family members to remove the impact of violence and abuse in our community.”
