By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE number of reported family violence incidents in the City of Casey continues to rise, according to a Crime Statistics Agency report released last week.
In 2014 there were 3840 family incidents reported to Casey police, up from 3561 the previous year.
State-wide, the number of reported family incidents rose by 8.2 per cent.
But Casey police’s local area commander Inspector Paul Breen said the size of the municipality had to be taken into account when considering the rise of reported family violence incidents in the region.
“The population is increasing nearly by 10,000 people per year in Casey and we’re trying to keep up as best we can,” Insp Breen said.
“Plus, police protocol around reporting family violence is very quick now. Over the years we’ve improved the processing.
“In the next 12 months we’ll try to stabilise those figures.”
In the same period the number of motor vehicle thefts in Casey per a 100,000 resident population increased from 3561 to 3840.
“The big thing for Casey is the number of thefts from motor vehicles; it’s a stat that continually hurts the municipality,” Insp Breen said.
“We’ve had a slow reduction in the last four to five weeks compared to the start of the year, and we have a couple of programs running, but residential burgs have also started to rise again.
“The big thing is that over a half of theft from motor cars is cars left unlocked. The community needs to step up here and help police their community.”
The new statistics also indicate a 12.2 per cent rise in the total number of reported offences in Casey, from 15,460 in 2013 to 17,349 in 2014.
Meanwhile in the same period the offence rate per 100,000 population in Casey has increased from 5619.4 to 6124.1
There has also been a 3.2 per cent increase in the total amount of alleged offender incidents in Casey, from 5757 in 2013 to 5944 in 2014.
“The community needs to be confident that they have a hardworking police force in Casey, and our number one core function is the protection and safety of the community,” Insp Breen said.
“We work hard to try and achieve that.”
The Crime Statistics Agency was introduced this year and has taken over the role previously occupied by Victoria Police, following calls for an independent body to be set up to stop the potential misuse of data by police and governments.
