Assaults down but crime on the rise

Baw Baw police services area inspector Alison Crombie has warned residents not to become complacent as crime statistics continue to rise.

Latest crime data recently released by the Crime Statistics Agency showed a 17.2 per cent increase in the number of offences recorded for the 12 month period ending in September.

Statistics for the number of criminal incidents and recorded offences in Baw Baw were both well above state averages. The number of criminal incidents per 100,000 population was 6731 compared to 6032 for the state.

The number of offences per 100,000 population in Baw Baw was 9290 compared with the state average of 8024. Other Gippsland municipalities were: Latrobe – 18,620; Cardinia – 5722; and Bass Coast – 7045.

Insp Crombie said unfortunately trends in Baw Baw were not reversing and crime continued to rise.

As a positive to the increased trend, Insp Crombie said she hoped the calls for more police in the area were being heard. For the 12 month period, the number of incidents increased 16.8 per cent compared to the state average of 3.7 per cent.

Thefts from cars continue to be the biggest area of concern, increasing 35 per cent from 348 to 471.

Victim reports showed thefts increased 29 per cent while burglaries were up 32 per cent.

However, the number of assaults dropped in the 12 month period from 423 to 348, representing a 17.7 per cent decrease.

A positive outcome in the data was a 5.5 per cent decrease in the number of family violence incidents from 849 to 802.

“Usually when the family violence unit starts, people get the confidence and if they are doing their jobs properly, we see a drop.

“Higher intervention (by police) converts to lower incidents and people learn that sort of behaviour isn’t tolerated,” she said.

Insp Crombie said there were no surprises in the latest statistics, but thankfully Baw Baw was not seeing the trends of aggravated burglaries and home invasions that other areas have.

“Usually any of our home invasions have been drug related and people known to each other.

“But Baw Baw residents can’t afford to be complacent because the population growth is coming our way and with it is increased crime,” she said.

Insp Crombie acknowledged the work of members across the Baw Baw psa in cleaning up crime. The statistics showed a 53 per cent arrest rate for offences.

Insp Crombie said police monitored crime statistics weekly and responded to what was happening.

She said special operations and increased resources targeted concern areas.

“When we notice an escalation of something, such as burglaries, we put in places the resources to target that,” she said.

Recent examples have included specialised operations targeting shop lifting and traffic operations targeting speed, driver distraction and alcohol.

Crowd praised

Police have praised the crowd behaviour at the Beyond the Valley festival at Lardner Park on day three of the four-day event.

“The crowd has been absolutely wonderful in very trying circumstances and hopefully that behaviour continues into the new year,” said Baw Baw Inspector Alison Crombie.

While noting some isolated incidences, Insp Crombie the police would be happy if the overall good behaviour continues.

As temperatures soared to 38.5 degrees with wind gusts of 57km/h yesterday, Beyond the Valley organisers urged those attending to secure tents and take down marquees and shade cloths.

Ahead of new year’s eve, Insp Crombie reinforced her message to festival goers to keep an eye on their mates.

“Please everyone look after your friends and mates. Don’t leave them in a hot tent.”