Reports of family violence have increased across the region, according to new statistics.
On Thursday, the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) released the recorded crime statistics for the year ending December 31, 2022, revealing an 11.3 per cent rise in family violence incidents in Geelong.
According to CSA, there were 4664 reports of family violence in Greater Geelong in the year to December 31, up from 4194 reports 12 months prior.
Breaches of family violence orders rose from 2434 reported breaches in 2021 to 2825 breaches in 2022.
Victoria Police deputy commissioner of regional operations Rick Nugent Victoria Police would continue concentrating on family violence.
He said family violence investigation unit detectives focused on known family violence perpetrators and victims daily to detect offending and support those impacted.
Overall, Geelong’s crime rate fell by 0.4 per cent from 20,001 offences recorded in 2021 to 19,911 offences recorded in 2022.
Central Geelong recorded the highest number of reports (3142), followed by Corio (2437), Norlane (1962), Lara (973) and Belmont (924).
Breaches of family violence orders was the most common offence across the region, followed by theft from a motor vehicle (2106 offences), criminal damage (1728 offences), other theft (1462 offences) and theft from a retail store (854 offences).
Mr Nugent said despite increasing offences, the data did show some positive outcomes.
“It is very pleasing that overall crime is still almost 10 per cent below pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
“These trends align with our expectations based on the intelligence available, which indicates that crime has not dramatically ‘snapped back’ to pre-COVID levels.”
“Over the coming year, police will continue to focus on proactive prevention and enforcement to ensure that the community is not only safe, but also feels safe in their homes, in public and on the roads.”
