By Kyra Gillespie
Crime is down by over 17 per cent in Cardinia with police making inroads in all major crime categories including burglary and theft.
New Crime Statistics Agency data shows in the 12 months ending June 30 this year the shire of Cardinia recorded 644 less criminal incidences and an offence rate drop of 16.4 per cent.
This marks the third consecutive year that crime has dropped in the region.
During that time crimes against the person rate dropped by 8.6 per cent, with just over 724 incidences calculated by a rate per 100,000, compared with 793 on last year.
Just over 460 assaults took place, dropping 11 per cent on last year.
Sexual offences also saw an encouraging 9.8 per cent dip, but still with 166 reported incidences.
Recorded family violence incident rates were down18.8 per cent.
Property-related crimes also dropped a notable 20 per cent, along with arson (down 16.7 per cent) and burglaries (down 20 per cent).
Robberies skyrocketed an alarming 56.4 per cent over the past 12 months, the highest Cardinia has seen in ten years.
While thefts declined over 22 per cent, they still fared a staggering 1,353 occurrences; far higher than any other crime committed in the municipality.
Total drug offences waned 25.7 per cent, including use and possession (20.7 per cent), dealing and trafficking (48.2 per cent) and manufacturing (22.2 per cent).
Cardinia Local Area Commander Inspector Shane Smith commended the efforts of local police for the fifth quarter of crime reduction.
“Due to the hard work of local police, along with continued support from community and key partners, I am pleased to say that we have continued to see some great reductions in burglaries, property damage and theft,” Insp Smith said.
“In the previous 12 months Cardinia has seen a reduction in crimes against the person, a significant decrease in burglary/ break and enter offences and a decrease in theft-related offences.
“We know this type of offending is a real concern for the community and reducing these high volume crimes has been a focus for police in Cardinia. Often these types of crimes are opportunistic but can be prevented by taking simple precautions such as; affixing one way screws to reduce number plate theft, keeping valuables out of sight and secure, and reporting suspicious behaviour or activity to Crime Stoppers.
“We are also pleased to say we have continued to see a decrease in assaults as a result of police utilising intelligence to targeting high risk locations in an effort to prevent and deter crime and anti-social behaviour.
“Your local police in Cardinia will continue to work hard on preventing and reducing crime, as well as building on our already strong relationships with local communities, as well as with partners such as Neighbourhood Watch, Crime Prevention Victoria and Cardinia Shire Council.”
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton, of Victoria Police, noted there were 24,000 less victims of crime across Victoria in the past year.
He said record numbers of arrests at nearly 175,000 for the year were achieving results.
More visible police patrols, proactive policing and the targeting of high-harm, high-volume offenders would also help restore public confidence.
“We’re removing them as a threat, remanding more people than ever before,” Dep Comm Patton said.
He acknowledged there were still “feelings of a lack of safety in the community”.
Police had targeted “networked” youth offenders – resulting in fewer young criminals.
But there was still an active “cohort” of wayward youths, Dep Comm Patton said.
Police Minister Lisa Neville praised Victoria Police for the latest stats, saying they were a step in the right direction but there was still a lot of work to be done.
