By Victoria Stone-Meadows
LATEST crime statistics show an overall increase of 17 per cent in the number of offences between September 2015 and 2016 across the Casey municipality.
The City of Casey saw the largest increase in abduction and related offences and justice procedures.
Abduction and related offences are crimes that include abduction, false imprisonment, slavery and sexual servitude or any crime that hinders a person’s personal movement or freedom.
From September 2015 to September 2016, the City of Casey saw a 70 per cent increase in these types of crime per 100,000 of the population.
With an offender number of 49 over the 12-month period to September 2016, a person is abducted or held against their will in the City of Casey at a rate of almost one a week.
Meanwhile justice procedures includes crimes that hinder the justice system such as escaping from custody, failing to appear in court and resisting or hindering an officer had a 208 per cent increase across the population.
Other types of crime that increased in Casey over 12 months are theft by deception, burglary and break and enter, arson, robbery, and homicide and related offences.
Statistics from the Crime Statistics Agency of Victoria show that the City of Casey has had an increase in crime overall, it is not the most crime-ridden area in the state.
The top five local government areas for increases in crime over 12 months are Melbourne, Latrobe, Yarra, Horsham, and Greater Dandenong.
However, the crime stats do show some areas of crime across Casey have fallen including government regulatory offences falling over 60 per cent across the area.
Government regulatory offences include crimes related to betting and gaming, liquor and tobacco licensing, pornography and censorship, intellectual property, and prostitution.
Another area that crime has fallen in Casey is the cultivation and manufacture of drugs with a fall of about 50 per cent from September 2015 to 2016.
Statistics from across the state show that crime committed by youth offenders under the age of 18 is quite low; this trend reflects trends reported in the News on 8 December. (FOR ONLINE LINK TO http://cranbournenews.starcommunity.com.au/news/2016-12-07/more-cops-tougher-laws/)
Crime Statistics Agency Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said that the majority of offenders were adults.
“In the year to September 2016, only 12 per cent of offenders were aged between 10 and 17, and more than half of all offenders were aged between 18 and 34,” she said.
