By Dongyun Kwon
The Crime Statistics Agency has released its annual crime data for 2023, showing that criminal incidents rose in the Yarra Ranges and Knox for the first time over the last few years.
The Yarra Ranges continued to drop in the number of criminal incidents in 2021 and 2022 while Knox dropped three years consecutively from 2020 to 2022.
In the Yarra Ranges, the total criminal incidents rose by 2.2 per cent compared to the previous year.
The most common criminal incident in the Yarra Ranges was breaching family violence orders, which slightly dropped to 475 incidents compared to 493 the previous year.
Family violence dropped 6.3 per cent compared to the previous year, with 1933 total family incidents.
An average of 1,217 family incidents per 100,000 people in the Yarra Ranges was below the Victorian average of 1,384.7.
Women were almost 2.5 times more likely to experience family violence, with 1386 being the affected family member compared to 545 men.
The top five hot spots in the Yarra Ranges saw 852 incidents in Lilydale (down from 918), 650 in Mooroolbark (down from 679), 478 in Chirnside Park (up from 381), 382 in Kilsyth (up from 341) and 329 in Healesville (up from 300).
Crime in the Yarra Ranges was most likely to occur at houses, slightly dropping to 1714 incidents compared to 1728 in 2022.
In Knox, total criminal incidents rose by 14.4 per cent compared to that of 2022.
The most common criminal incident in Knox was stealing from a motor vehicle, which rose to 941 incidents compared to 598 the previous year.
Family violence rose 4.1 per cent compared to the previous year, with 2009 total family incidents.
The average of 1,248.5 family incidents per 100,000 people in Knox was below the Victorian average of 1,384.7.
Women were almost three times more likely to experience family violence, with 1484 being the affected family member compared to 524 men.
The top five hot spots in Knox saw 1303 incidents in Boronia (up from 1170), 1279 in Ferntree Gully (up from 1113), 1221 in Wantirna South (up from 931), 1209 in Rowville (up from 964) and 789 in Bayswater (up from 760).
Crime in Knox was also most likely to occur at houses, rising to 2081 incidents compared to 1843 in 2022.
There were 523,523 criminal offences recorded in Victoria in the 2023 calendar year, representing an increase of 40,351 offences or 8.4 per cent from 2022.
In a statement, Victoria Police deputy commissioner regional operations Neil Paterson APM said crime in Victoria has gradually increased over the past few years as Victorian life has returned to normality post pandemic.
“When population is considered, Victoria pleasingly still has its third lowest crime rate at any point over the past decade – ahead of only 2022 and the Covid-marred 2021,” he said.
“While this is positive, that doesn’t mean there aren’t areas of concern.”
One of the crimes that has challenged Victoria Police is child offending in recent years.
Overall child and youth offenders aged 10 to 24 were responsible for 47,511 incidents, an increase of 13.8 per cent year-on-year.
Victoria Police continue to hold the young offenders accountable, with youth gang members targeted as part of Operation Alliance as well as young burglars and car thieves continually arrested and put before the courts under Operation Trinity.
These operations have led to over 5,000 combined arrests over the last year, with Operation Trinity alone leading to the arrest of almost four burglars and car thieves every day, the vast majority of children.
Mr Paterson said child offending remains a real challenge for police and a significant driver of serious and violent crime in Victoria.
“Much of the child and youth offending we’re seeing is mindless and driven by the pursuit of notoriety or social media likes. This is highlighted by the fact that police recovered 94 per cent of vehicles stolen during aggravated burglaries as part of Operation Trinity – cars stolen purely for joy riding and no financial gain,” he said.
“When interviewed, offenders are telling us they will walk up and down a street until they find a door or window that is unlocked. Our intelligence supports this, with over half of all homes burgled in key hotspots unlocked.
“While police will continue to patrol known hotspots every evening until dawn as part of Trinity, we are also calling on the community to play their part and lock their properties and cars.”
