Suburb bucks

CRIME is not paying in Cranbourne, according to recent police figures.
City of Casey District Police Inspector John Hendrickson said Cranbourne had experienced a significant reduction in assaults, theft from motor cars and burglaries in the last financial year.
He said the trends in the Cranbourne response zone, covering an area from Pearcedale to Hampton Park, were very positive, despite recent negative media publicity.
“Cranbourne has had some fairly negative publicity recently but it has actually belied the trend across the rest of the district.
“Crime in Cranbourne has been fairly well managed over the last 12 months, particularly in the two key crime areas we monitor assault and theft from motor cars,” Insp Hendrickson said.
He said that while the number of assaults had risen in other suburbs in Casey, Cranbourne’s increase was 10 per cent less than the rest of the municipality.
“This is a significant drop,” he said.
“Cranbourne also recorded a 20 per cent drop in the number of thefts from motor cars, while across the district this figure was pretty much the status quo.
“Residential burglaries also went up across Casey but the burglary rate in Cranbourne was substantially less than the remainder of the city,” he said.
Insp Hendrickson said Cranbourne’s crime rates were not growing to the extent of other areas in Casey, despite its massive population increase.
“These are pretty good reductions,” he said.
“These statistics are based on raw data on the number of offences committed.
“However, if you look at the increase in population when you convert the statistics to crime per 100,000 people it reads far more favourably.
“While crime is never acceptable, our trends are within the state averages.”
Insp Hendrickson said the figures also reflected the tremendous work of Casey’s local Neighbourhood Watch groups which work closely with police to actively reduce crime.
“We can only react to what we know and if people don’t report the crime we can’t target it.
“That’s why Neighbourhood Watch is so important,” he said.
New Neighbourhood Watch groups have been established this year in Brookland Greens and The Hunt Club, Cranbourne and Strathaird, and Narre Warren South, with another six likely to be introduced in Casey by the end of the year.