Crime in two central Victoria regions has increased in the past 12 months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Drug offences and thefts lead the spike in crime in the Central Goldfields region while Buloke saw public order and security offences double.
Crime at 10-year high in central Goldfields
Central Goldfields recorded its highest number of offences in the last 10 years with a total of 1517 offences committed in the year ending March, 2018.
It amounts to a 10 per cent increase on the 1375 offences committed in 2017.
The increase in Central Goldfields crime was attributed to an increase in property and deception offences and drug offences.
Drug offences totalled 73 (up from 41 in 2017) with drug possession offences up 49 per cent in the past 12 months – 53 were recorded in 2018.
In the property and deception offences totalled 693 (up from 567), with offences listed as “other thefts” leaping from 95 in 2017 to 268 in 2018 – an increase of 182 per cent.
In a positive step for the Central Goldfields area, crimes against the person decreased, lead by a drop in reports of sexual offences and family violence assaults.
Firearms offences up in Buloke Shire
The Buloke region saw a 22 per cent increase in total crime with 227 offences committed in the year ending March, 2018 compared to 185 in 2017.
Buloke had previously experienced a general decrease in crime since 2012.
Public order and security offences have more than doubled from 11 in the year ending March, 2017, to 23 in 2018.
The primary factor in the rise was 14 firearms offences recorded in the past 12 months, up from 5 in 2017.
Reported sexual offences rose from eight in 2017 to 25. This was the main reason crimes against the person increased in Buloke by 33 per cent, with 56 offences recorded in the past 12 months.
Property and deception offences went from 86 in 2017 to 120 in 2018.
A reduction in justice procedure offences was led by a drop in breaches of family violence orders with just eight offences recorded in 2018 compared to 27 in the previous 12 months.
Drug offences in the region reduced from 10 in 2017 to just three in 2018.
Of the three drug offences, two were for cultivating drugs and one was for drug use.