CRIME in the Swan Hill municipality is at its lowest level in a decade, with more boots on the ground aimed at continuing that trend.
According to Crime Statistics Agency data for the year ending June 2024, the rate of criminal incidents was down 8.6 per cent, with 1426 incidents recorded compared to 1561 one year earlier.
The crime rate has deceased every year since 2021 – the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when 1838 incidents were recorded.
The top five crime locations were in the house (568 incidents); street or footpath (156); supermarket (57); flat, unit or apartment (54); and other retail (50).
Swan Hill police Acting Inspector Brian Hansen said complacency was a factor in home burglaries.
“People are still leaving doors and windows unlocked so there is easy access into the house,” he said.
“We are finding that in relation to family violence type issues and assaults, the household unit is being maintained for longer where kids are staying at home longer into their adult years, so sometimes that’s creating issues.”
Insp Hansen said some criminals were becoming more brazen.
“They are more willing to take risks to achieve their goal and whether that’s because they’re under the influence of drugs or they aren’t concerned of the consequences, all those factors come into play to a certain degree,” he said.
Supermarkets were easy targets during the cost-of-living crisis.
“High-priced items that were several years ago easily affordable are now out of reach for some people and some people are willing to take that risk to try and steal,” Insp Hansen said.
“Larger businesses or franchises are willing to take the hit, whereas more of your local businesses are prepared to report to police.”
Insp Hansen said there had been issues around damage to public toilets and community infrastructure.
“It’s disappointing to see this kind of senseless behaviour,” he said.
“It’s there for the convenience of all members of the community, and for people to be denied the use of those facilities due to random or calculated act is pretty low.”
A fire recently damaged the disability toilet at Riverside Park.
“It’s just pathetic,” Insp Hansen said, noting the damage bill was about $8000.
“It’s used regularly by people who do have disabilities, who visit that park area for their own mental health and to be denied access to that is not very community-minded at all.”
An arrest was made but no prosecution was considered because of the age of the person arrested.
The top five towns for criminal incidents were Swan Hill (936 incidents), Robinvale (277), Lake Boga (35), Nyah West (32) and Woorinen (17).
Meanwhile, the top five principal offences were breach of family violence order (177 incidents), criminal damage (150), breach of bail conditions (89), common assault (86) and serious assault (68).
“Family violence is constantly looked at by Victoria Police,” Insp Hansen said.
“It’s not something we ignore at all, and we are constantly putting new strategies in place to try and combat it.
“The more and more we focus on it, the more we seem to be getting reports of it.
“So people are becoming more comfortable in approaching police.
“That’s a good thing, but the unintended consequence is our figure will go up in that area.”
Insp Hansen said he expected repeat offending to be issue for “quite some time”.
“There’s the changes to the Bail Act in particular, where there seems to be a greater focus on providing bail to people where previously they wouldn’t, regardless of the severity of the offences,” he said.
“So, we are seeing a huge increase in recidivism within the community.
“The good thing about it is we know who the crooks are, so we know who to target.
“Unfortunately, for our bail decision-makers, their hands are tied a little bit because of the new bail laws.
“It is really frustrating, but at the same time, it’s decisions that are politically based and not made by police.
“At the end of the day, our job is to serve the community and we will do that the best way we can … it’s not the only frustration in the job but at the same time there is also pleasantries about the job.”
The rate of charges laid was 49 per cent while the resolution rate had also increased.
“Not only does that give some closure and some positive results for victims, but it shows that the guys that work here really know the area, and they know the individuals and how they operate,” Insp Hansen said.
“So, we’re finding that even though a burglary, for instance, is committed, we can examine the way in which it has occurred, and we can attribute that to the modus operandi of a person, a previous offender that we’re familiar with, and we can start walking into their movements, and we’re having good results with that.”
Regional operations Acting Deputy Commissioner Chris Gilbert said behind every statistic was a victim of crime.
“These people and their experiences are the reason our members doggedly pursue those who endanger the community,” he said.
“This determination to hold criminals accountable has never been more evident, with Victoria Police making 68,579 arrests and laying 189,666 charges over the past year.
“Victoria’s four fastest growing crimes are all related to opportunistic offending – theft from motor vehicle, retail theft, motor vehicle theft, and the theft of other items such as petrol.
“Around a quarter of all crime can be directly attributed to the scourge of family violence, with Victoria Police called out to a family violence incident every five minutes.”
The full data can be found at the Crime Statistics Agency website.
