By XAVIER SMERDON
CRIME is sky-rocketing in Wyndham with the number of overall offences recorded rising by almost 18 per cent over the last 12 months, according to the latest Victoria Police statistics.
The figures reveal that from April 2011 to March this year residential burglary has risen 23.1 per cent and drug offences within the municipality have ballooned by 22.3 per cent.
Theft of motor vehicles also rose by 17.9 per cent while the total number of offences reported also rose by 17.9 per cent.
Crime against property was the most recorded offence, with 9139 incidents, a rise of 18.3 per cent in 12 months.
Inspector Cindy Millen, who took over the job as top cop from Bill Weatherly in March, said police were working on tackling the most common offences in Wyndham.
“I have focused on understanding the local issues impacting on crime, traffic and public order offences and as you can see by the crime statistics I have identified my priorities as property damage, theft of motor car, theft from motor car and burglary,” Insp Millen said.
“(We) will deploy every resource necessary to prevent these offences from occurring.”
As revealed by Star in May this year, local police have been running highly visible operations to deter drugs and weapons crimes in the municipality.
Inspector Millen said residents could expect more of the same in the near future.
“We will continue to run these types of operations with high police visibility to saturate the city of Wyndham,” she said.
“Police also rely on the community to help us prevent these offences and report any suspicious behaviour so we can continue to work together.”
The only areas of crime that saw a decline in the number of offences recorded were robbery, which fell by 6.1 per cent and assaults excluding family violence, which was reduced by 7.5 per cent.
Inspector Millen said she and her officers were working hard on making Wyndham a safer place.
“I have certainly been impressed with the work ethic of local police who take pride in the work they do to prevent crime and apprehend offenders. They work tirelessly to keep you safe and ensure Wyndham is a safe place to work, live and visit,” she said.
“We will continue to try a number of different initiatives to ensure the safety of the whole community.”
