Wyndham has recorded a 3.2 per cent increase in the number of total offences recorded for the year ending September 2022, despite the overall decline of crime rates statewide.
According to the latest Crime Statistics Agency, there were 16,793 offences recorded in Wyndham in 2022, an increase from the 16,267 reported in 2021.
“While we are seeing some gradual increases in crime as we move further away from the pandemic, police in Wyndham will continue to do everything we can to keep crime as low as possible,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
There were increases in four principal offence subgroups including theft from a motor vehicle (1846 incidents), other theft (1731 incidents), criminal damage (1425 incidents) and obtain benefit by deception (841 incidents), rising by 3.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, 16.3 per cent and 17.9 per cent respectively.
“Home burglaries and car theft are some of our key priorities, as we know this is likely to gradually increase as a result of the change in people’s lifestyles and working patterns post pandemic,” the Victoria Police spokesperson said.
Crime decreased in Point Cook (2368 incidents) and Tarneit (2335 incidents), but in Werribee, the number of reports increased from 4454 to 4777, from 2745 to 2852 in Hoppers Crossing, and in Truganina incidents rose from 1178 to 1311.
According to the spokesperson, Victoria Police are undertaking a number of initiatives across the municipality to help keep the community safe.
“We have teams of local uniform police and detectives working to prevent this type of offending and to apprehend offenders, while this strong approach will continue, we also urge the community to ensure they are securing their properties and vehicles at all times, particularly ahead of the summer period when many people will be holidaying or out enjoying the festive season,” the spokesperson said.
Criminal offences in Victoria were the lowest in eight years, declining by 4.3 per cent to 474,446 reported incidents.
