Emily Chapman Laing
The latest crime statistics show a haunting increase in residential aggravated burglaries in Casey over the past 12 months.
Residential aggravated burglaries have exceeded pre-Covid and 2022 levels, up by 54.3 per cent since last year and by a whopping 125 per cent since 2018.
In Victoria, there was a 30 per cent increase in this crime type, which police said is driven predominantly by youths sneaking into unlocked homes to steal car keys.
“What we’ve seen over time is a shift in the reason aggravated burglaries are committed,” said Deputy Commisioner Regional Operations Rick Nugent.
“Many years ago commonly aggravated burglaries were known to each other, drug debts, drug related, gang related.
“The shift we’ve seen is to get access to keys to top end cars.”
Mr Nugent said in some parts of Melbourne, up to 70 per cent of homes broken into are unlocked.
“So we also implore the community to take simple measures such as looking all doors, windows, and gates to help foil opportunistic thieves,” he said.
Casey criminal incidents are up 9.4 per cent per capita from 2022.
However this is a 5.1 per cent per capita decrease on pre-Covid levels.
It is also 29.5 per cent below the per capita the Victorian average.
Cardinia crime is up 6.5 per cent per capita from 2022.
Greater Dandenong saw a steep rise in crime from 2022, up by 18.6 per cent per capita.
Crime Statistics Australia Chief Statistician Fiona Dowsley said “the upward trends observed in recorded crime measures in the last 12 months coincide with a return to pre-pandemic related movements in the community”.
“While there has been an increase in recorded crime measures for the year ending 31 March 2023, the figures remain below those recorded in 2019” Ms Dowsley said.
The data revealed steep rises in various criminal offences within Casey since 2022.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said while overall crime across Casey increased over the past twelve months, it still remains almost 1500 offences below pre-Covid levels.
“Pleasingly, serious crimes such as robberies and car thefts are among the crime that remain below the levels seen before the pandemic,” they said.
“While the overall number of homes being broken into across Casey also remains below pre-pandemic levels, it has increased from last year and local police are focusing on addressing this crime type.
“We continue to urge residents in all areas to consider remember to secure their homes and vehicles.”
The Victoria Police spokesperson said there are simple routines that people can do to protect themselves including “making it a nightly routine to lock doors, especially internal doors that lead to garages, parking vehicles in a secure garage, and ensuring keys aren’t easily accessible”.
Car theft is up 17.1 per cent since last year, though there has been a 1.1 per cent decrease since 2018.
Breaches of family violence orders have risen by 17.2 per cent since 2022 and have increased by 40.1 per cent since 2018.
Aggravated robbery in Casey is 40.3 per cent above both 2018 and 2022 levels.
Dangerous driving offences increased by 17 per cent since 2022 in Victoria, but decreased by 11.1 per cent in Casey.
Specific suburbs in Casey were noted as the worst offenders for their rise in criminal activity over the past 12 months.
Cranbourne (11.7 per cent), Narre Warren (15.2 per cent), Berwick (10.1 per cent), Hampton Park (15 per cent) and Clyde North (23 per cent) were all noted in the data as having seen an incline in criminal behaviour.
In Cranbourne burglaries were up 7.2 per cent, but were 17 per cent below the pre-Covid levels of 2018.
Assault and thefts both saw an incline, up 16.2 per cent from 2022 and 9.5 per cent from 2018 levels.
In Narre Warren, burglaries and thefts were up 26 per cent and 28.8 per cent respectively since 2022.
However both were 17.6 per cent below 2018 levels.
Assaults in the area have risen by 31.4 per cent since 2022 and have succeeded 2018 levels by 3.4 per cent.
Assaults were up 20.2 per cent in Berwick since 2022, but remain 12.1 per cent below 2018 rates.
Thefts (up 24.3 per cent) and burglaries (up 58.1 per cent) have increased compared to both 2018 and 2022 statistics.
In Hampton Park, burglary and theft rates increased by 15.7 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively since 2022, but remain well below 2018 rates.
Hampton Park showed a 62.9 per cent decrease in burglary and a 30.2 per cent decrease in theft compared to pre-Covid levels.
Assaults have exceeded both 2018 and 2022 rates in the region, up by 5 per cent since 2018 and 26.6 per cent since 2022.
In the growth corridor of Clyde North, assault rates remains the same from 2022, but have increased by 174 per cent since 2018.
Burglaries have risen 33.6 per cent since 2022 but sit 9.6 per cent below 2018 rates.
However thefts have risen above 2018 and 2022 rates, up by 104 per cent and 38.6 per cent respectively.
Robberies increased by 8.7 per cent in Victoria over the past 12 months.
Pre-Covid, robberies were a significant concern for police as they were at decade highs.
However, current robbery rates are a significant 36.8 per cent below the levels seen in the twelve months to March 2020.
