LARA SUFFERS RISE IN WEAPONS
GEELONG’S latest police data shows a startling rise in crime in some surprise suburbs, with weapons offences and drug crime spiking in areas including Grovedale and Lara.
A analysis of Greater Geelong’s crime data by suburb has found weapons/explosives offences in Lara jumped from nine offences in the year to June 2015, to 33 in the following 12 months.
At Grovedale those crimes jumped from three to 16, according to the Crime Statistics Agency.
Drug offences in Lara jumped from 13 to 45, and in Grovedale the number of those offences recorded went from 16 to 42.
Norlane topped the lists though, with 154 drug offences, up 250 per cent on the previous year.
Superintendent Craig Gillard this week said local police needed the community’s help to prevent crime.
“Stolen numberplates for example enable further crimes to be committed such as petrol drive offs and burglaries with what they believe is a fair degree of anonymity,” he said.
“As a city we’ve got more work to do but residents can rest assured we looking at our processes to address this the best we can.”
The Greater Geelong region’s overall crime rate rose 21.5 per cent in the past year and the statistics show suburbs in the city’s north continue to suffer the most.
Corio and Norlane recorded some of the highest numbers of thefts, drug crime, weapons offences and crimes against people— both suburbs had the highest number of violent crimes with 428 in Corio (up 35.4 per cent) and 332 reports in Norlane (up 45 per cent).
Crimes against a person include robbery, homicide, sexual offences and assault.
Bell Park, Leopold and Newtown also had double the reported cases.
Corio (838) and Geelong (1095) recorded the highest number of theft reports, with other areas including Belmont, Geelong West, Norlane and North Geelong experiencing notable rises also.
Theft reports in Curlewis jumped from one report to 48 in the year.
Rural suburbs and towns around Geelong mainly saw decreases or only moderate rises. There were substantial declines in some crimes, for example burglary in Connewarre, Ceres and Winchelsea.
Townships in the Surf Coast also saw decreases across many crime areas, except for Torquay, which saw violent crime jump 245.8 per cent.
Supt Gillard urged residents get to know their neighbours to provide another layer of protection to personal safety.
“Get to know who lives nearby and who’s moving in and out of your neighbourhood,” Supt Gillard said.
“We don’t interact as well as we did a generation ago.
“Keep an eye out for each other and report suspicious behaviour to 000 or Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000).”
Police Minister Lisa Neville this week said an increase in abduction and stalking offences had been linked to family violence and drug-related violence.
The Member for Bellarine said theft offences were being targeted by Geelong police’s High Volume Crime Team, which was focusing on hot spots and making “more arrests than ever”.