By Belinda Nolan
While overall crime in Brimbank is down by 0.9 per cent, the city has witnessed a rise in violent crimes, including assault, crimes against the person and robbery.
The latest crime figures released by Victoria Police last week reveal a 19.2 per cent spike in family violence assaults, while crimes against the person rose by 13.1 per cent.
Robberies were also on the rise with a 1.5 per cent increase in offences between January and December last year, when compared with the same period in 2009.
Theft from car and property damage offences were also on the way up, recording a 12.2 per cent and 5.8 per cent rise respectively.
Meanwhile, Brimbank’s burglary crew has been making headway, with a staggering 21.6 per cent drop in residential burglaries.
Drug offences, property crimes and non-family violence assaults were also down.
Brimbank Police Inspector Michael Grainger told Star he was thrilled with the drop in burglaries and heartened by the rise in family violence figures.
“Although statistically we’ve seen an increase in assaults, these mainly relate to family violence and in my view it’s a positive reflection which indicates that more people are starting to report what has traditionally been a taboo subject.”
Insp Grainger said around 70 per cent of assaults reported in Brimbank were solved.
Last week, Star reported that there had been an increase in crime around Brimbank’s transport hubs over the past month.
Insp Grainger said police were currently working on new strategies to tackle violent crime.
“We’re in the process of reviewing our approach,” Insp Grainger said.
“How to stop street robberies and assaults is something we’re reconsidering because we’ve thrown a heap of resources at it but yet we’re still getting these offences and that does concern me.
“But it’s not something we can tackle alone. It’s not about the cops being magicians. It needs to be a community effort.”
Insp Grainger encouraged residents to talk to local youth to help steer them away from crime.
