A SPIKE in crime in Gannawarra over the past year “could be seen as a good thing”, according to Acting Inspector Brian Hansen.
According to Crime Statistics Agency data for the year ending June 2024, the rate of criminal incidents was up 24 per cent compared to the previous year – up from 551 incidents to 683.
Insp. Hansen said several factors could be behind the increased crime rate, not least a police resource boost.
“I’d like to think that’s reflective of an increased police presence in the area,” he told the Gannawarra Times.
“We’ve recently seen as part of a State Government allocation, an additional influx of troops allocated to Kerang, so an additional nine members there.
“So that’s given us an opportunity to become more proactive and to target specific areas within the community.
“One of those areas is drugs.
“So we’ve been able to execute a lot more warrants, a lot more search warrants in there.
“We’re gaining, we’re getting a good flow of information from the community that helps us execute search warrants and obviously detect offences and process offenders.”
Insp. Hansen said agriculture related theft was problematic in the Gannawarra Shire.
“We’re getting a bit more farm, agricultural type thefts … a bit of fuel, some machinery items being being taken as well,” he said.
“Again, our supermarkets aren’t left out for the high cost items and things like that, and family violence is always up there.”
The Cohuna police station has also been bolstered with three additional members.
“Feedback I’ve had from the community has been great,” he said.
Insp. Hansen said the tobacco war had made it way to the region with the recent fire at a Cohuna tobacco store.
Insp Hansen said businesses were nervous after the blaze last month.
“Particularly those businesses that have been a cornerstone to the community for so long,” he said.
“And suddenly they’ve had to think about putting bollards up in front of their business and things like that, just to protect them.”
The top five location types of criminal incidents were in the house (243 incidents), street/lane/footpath (82), supermarket (25), flat/unit/apartment (23), and farmland/agriculture (23).
The top five towns were Kerang (415 incidents), Cohuna (97), Leitchville (31), Koondrook (25) and Dingwall (17).
The top five principal offences were criminal damage (77 incidents), other theft (63), breach family violence order (55), steal from a motor vehicle (39) and breach bail conditions (32).
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.
