Crime in Geelong is rising back toward pre-pandemic levels, following close behind the rest of the state, according to new Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) data.
The recent quarterly data, released on Thursday, September 28, showed the total number of Greater Geelong recorded offences had increased by 6.2 per cent to 21,401 from 20,148 last year, compared to a state-wide increase of 7.9 per cent.
Property and deception offences including theft, property damage, break-ins and obtaining benefits by deception, were the highest, with more than half the total recorded offences (11,547), increasing by 13.4 per cent from 2021-22 to 2022-23.
Theft from motor vehicles remains the most frequent form of property and deception offences, but this has fallen slightly over the past year.
Geelong Investigation and Response Manager Inspector Karl Curran said police responded to crime trends daily and that property and deception offences in Greater Geelong had slightly decreased.
“We are pleased to report a slight decrease in property and deception offences compared to pre-pandemic levels in the Greater Geelong region,” he said.
“This includes decreases for residential burglaries and motor vehicle theft offences, which are both sitting at their third lowest levels in a decade.”
Inspector Curran said Victoria Police’s proactive policing strategy was designed to respond to criminal activity and “target opportunistic offending, such as breaking into cars and homes”.
“We continue to proactively target those we believe are committing offences to prevent crime,” he said.
“Our intelligence also indicates that a substantial number of car break-ins stem from vehicles being left unlocked and strongly urge the community to secure their properties and vehicles at all times.
“Police will continue to be out every day and night patrolling streets, including shopping districts, commercial and residential areas, ensuring that potential offenders think twice before engaging in unlawful activities.
“We call on members of the community that have information to contact police or Crime Stoppers to assist us holding offenders to account.”
However, over the past year, Geelong’s fastest-growing category of offences has been justice procedure offences, which grew by 19.4 per cent.
Family violence order breaches are the largest sub-category of offences in the region, accounting for nearly 14 per cent of all offences in Greater Geelong.
Breaches of family violence orders in the region rose from 2576 to 2964 (13.1 per cent), compared to a rise of 5 per cent in Victoria overall.
Drug-related offences in Geelong also grew significantly in the past 12 months, increasing by 18.8 per cent.
Drug dealing and trafficking offences dropped 15 per cent, while drug use and possession offences rose 23.1 per cent.
