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Bendigo police processed the same number of homicide related offences as officers in the City of Melbourne last year.
The nine offences recorded in Bendigo were the equal second highest in the state, behind the metropolitan suburbs of Brimbank and Wyndham with 11.
Since 2011 there were two homicide related offences recorded annually in Bendigo.
Crime Statistics Agency figures released yesterday also revealed the rate of assaults, burglaries and thefts committed in Greater Bendigo jumped significantly during the past five years.
Assaults climbed by 22 per cent from 590 offences per 100,000 residents in 2011 to 759 offences in 2015; burglary/break and enter crimes were up from 540 offences to 693 offences per 100,000 residents over the same period; and thefts rose from 1984 offences to 2135 offences.
CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said the larger figures were reflective of statewide trends, partially linked to family violence, but warned against reading too much into the city’s high murder rate.
“That’s homicide and related offences, so they don’t all necessarily relate to individual murders,” she said.
“In terms of assault, that’s in line with what we’re seeing across the state and the rise there has been very much linked to family violence … we’re now seeing over 50 per cent of assaults are related to family violence.”
Drug dealing and trafficking offences were steady in 2015 with 103 offences recorded per 100,000 residents, but cultivation and manufacturing offences almost halved from 40 to 21.