Brimbank crime has fallen to its lowest level in six years.
There were 17,149 criminal offences recorded in the municipality for the year ending December, 2017, a 10.42 per cent drop on the number recorded in the previous 12 months and the lowest number since 2011.
Acting Inspector Brimbank investigation and response unit John Clark said the figures were a good indication that recent policing strategies are working.
“We’re certainly pleased that total crime is going in the right direction,” he said. “A large level reduction in crime is testament to the hard work being put in, but there’s still areas of harm reflected in the stats.”
While overall crime was down, figures for crimes against the person were the highest they’ve been for the past 10 years, with 2844 offences recorded. Sexual offences have jumped an alarming 21 per cent, while assault and related offences rose by four per cent.
Acting Inspector Clark said reporting trends had played a big role in the spike.
“A lot of the sexual offences reported are historical,” he said. “We’re seeing more and more people come forward and report past incidents.
“It’s a similar case with our assault numbers. We’ve put a huge emphasis on family violence and these types of offences are getting reported more than ever before.
“We can’t physically put a police car inside people’s homes, so we need people to tell us what’s going on.”
Despite a spate of aggravated burglaries in Brimbank in recent months, the data showed that burglary and break-and-enter offences had decreased.
“Declines in these sort of stats show that we’ve got the right people in the right areas,” Acting Inspector Clark said. “Home invasions have been a popular topic in the media lately, but in truth they’re not actually that common.
“Having said that, one home invasion is too many and we’ll continue to work hard on those types of crimes. We’ve got an established taskforce dedicated to not only reducing that type of crime, but also offering community support.”
