POLICE have credited an improved response to property-related crime with a decrease in total crime incidents in Bendigo.
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Bendigo Local Area Commander Acting Inspector Leesa Johnson welcomed the data released yesterday by the Crime Statistics Agency, which showed an 8.9 per cent decrease in total crime in the municipality in the 12 months to December 31.
“I am pleased the hard work by our members, our partners, stakeholders and the community is getting positive results,” she said.
“We continually strive to further improve that result for our community.”
Property-related crime fell by 13.7 per cent in that period.
“Since February 2017, we have restructured our response to property related crime, such as burglary, theft of motor vehicle and theft from motor vehicle with continuing positive results,” Inspector Johnson said.
“Burglary and related offences dropped from 811 to 732 incidents.
“Incidents of theft are our highest recorded offence; however we recorded a decrease of 23.3 per cent.”
She said education was key to further decreasing property-related crime in the community.
Inspector Johnson urged people to lock their doors and windows, even if they were going out for a short time.
“The age-old theory of not leaving valuables in cars is still relevant today, as is not leaving keys in cars and lock the doors,” she said.
“Have a walk around your house and see what measures you can take to detract a burglar entering your house, such as the removal of bushes allowing undetected entry, remove things such as ladders and anything that may suggest you are not home, such as leaving bins outside for days.”
Striving for improvement
Though total crime incidents in Greater Bendigo decreased by almost 9 per cent, a number of categories of offending increased.
There were 1234 crimes against the person in 2017 – 54 more than the year prior.
Inspector Johnson said the sub-category of assault and related offences had also increased.
“We continue to monitor trends and have a number of targeted operations to reduce these offences,” she said.
“Working with our internal and external stakeholders to address family violence incidents, we will continue to see an increase in family violence related assault charges by following a zero tolerance approach to this crime category.
“An increase in the number of intervention orders applied for on behalf of family violence victims and increased charges in relation to breaching orders further enhances the zero tolerance approach.”
Western Region Division 5 will this year welcome 10 family violence practitioners.
“This will further enhance our work with recidivist offenders and repeat victims,” Inspector Johnson said.
Deception was another category of offending that was on the rise.
Inspector Johnson said it had been for a number of years, in line with increased online scams.
“Information on simple steps to protect personal and financial information online can be found on the Australian Government’s online safety and security website Stay Smart Online www.staysmartonline.gov.au,” she said.
If you require urgent police assistance, dial 000. If you would like to report crime information or help solve a crime contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.