By LAURA WAKELY
BURGLARIES rose in Brimbank by a massive 60 per cent last year.
Official figures released by Victoria Police last week show residential burglaries rose by 58.5 per cent in 2011, or 1991 incidents, compared with 1256 incidents in 2010.
Victoria Police also revealed there were 2632 incidents of theft from vehicles, 1602 incidents of damage to property, 1432 assaults, 1127 vehicles stolen and 277 robberies in 2011.
Overall, a massive 16,771 crimes were committed from January to December last year, an increase of 12.4 per cent on the 14,923 offences in 2010.
Brimbank Police Service Area Inspector Mick Grainger said the increase in robberies was due to a spike of offences midway through last year.
“I’m really very concerned about it,” Insp Grainger said.
“We’ve actually deployed many, many man hours into (investigating burglaries).”
The problem has continued into 2012, with the Brimbank Burglary Unit reporting 78 burglaries in the first nine days of February.
Insp Grainger said criminals were targeting developing housing estates, where many homes were isolated or had new appliances, as well as built up residential areas.
“We have a lot of people in Brimbank where two incomes in the family require people to be working and that provides an opportunity for thieves,” he said.
An operational response unit dedicated to stopping burglaries was out and about in Brimbank last week and Insp Grainger said police had increased a “visible presence” on the streets during working hours.
The 21.4 per cent increase in the theft of cars, he said, had been “more widespread over time”.
Most of the thefts took place when residents parked their cars on the street at night, but transport hubs and shopping centres were also being hit.
Although assaults have increased by nine per cent, Insp Grainger said he was pleased because that meant family violence incidents were being reported.
“It’s (family violence) still massively underreported,” he said.
“I think we’re a long way from seeing assaults massively reduced.”
